“We do what we like, because we like what we do.”
-Beautiful Eulogy (feat. Lee Green)
What an odd Thanksgiving morning. I’m inclined to go random with whatever I’m reading, and occasionally I stumble upon things that make me think.
From one of this morning’s readings: Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, when speaking of the laws passed within decades of the Pilgrims’ arrival in New England, notes the irony of a religious people fleeing England for the freedom of American shores only to implement such draconian laws as to threaten death for not doing religion their way. Death was the penalty for a myriad of behaviors, at the heart of which was the violation of the religious mores of those making the laws.
Tocqueville goes on to say, “Such deviations undoubtedly bring shame on the spirit of man; they attest the inferiority of our nature, which, unable to hold firmly to what is true and just, is generally reduced to choosing between two excesses.”
Again, I find his words prophetic of today’s society, but more so a testament that there is really nothing new under the sun when it comes to our proclivities.
By chance I was also browsing through Jonathan Edwards’ Freedom of the Will, and in his very establishment of the definition of the word (“Will”), he demonstrates that we are indeed “free” in that this “Will” is a matter of choice, and that we will always choose that which ultimately pleases us. “There is scarcely a plainer and more universal dictate of the sense and experience of mankind, than that, when men act voluntarily, and do what they please, then they do what suits them best, or what is most agreeable to them.”
These passages brought to mind a pastor to whom I used to listen regularly (and sadly, who recently passed away), Tom Schrader. I found one of his illustrations of our nature so helpful: “If I were to put out two plates on this stage – on one, a nice fresh salad, and on the other, a pile of rotting meat – then release a buzzard from the back of the auditorium, that buzzard would fly to the plate of rotting meat. Every. Single. Time.” The buzzard had the choice to go to the salad, but it was in the nature of the bird to take the meat.
And so it is with us. In Edwards’ view, we are indeed free to choose, but it is in our nature to choose against God unless God intervenes. “…the Will is always determined by the strongest motive,” and our motives cannot be purely based upon that which is of God unless God himself changes our heart to be motivated by a love for God himself.
We often confuse the good that we and others do for this love of God, but at its root it is not. This world is full of wonderful people who give of themselves in order to improve our lot. But here’s an odd line from the Bible that might give us pause. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Harsh words when you think about it. At the heart of it, Paul is saying motivation matters. As Edwards said, if the “Will” is always determined by the strongest motive, and the motivation is not of God himself, then the action at its foundation is self-centered.
But what can be wrong with this? Here I can ponder the cumulative effects of humanity’s self-centeredness. It all works well and good when that which is done benefits others in some way. But we all know this is not always the case. For any benefit, we could probably easily find another action which is detrimental to others in some degree.
My point though is not that we have to find a way to make the benefits outweigh the costs. Ironically, this too is self-centered. What I’ve long been insisting is that we must gauge our actions by an objective standard so that we can hold to that which is always of benefit, rather than subject ourselves to the whims of personal motivations.
Here’s the thing: the Bible tells us that those who are in Christ are new creations. The old is gone, and the new is come. Does that make us perfect in our actions? Heavens no. Does it even mean that the things we do are now completely motivated by our love for God? That, too, is a “no.” Paul reminds us in his writings that there are things he wants to do but cannot, and things he doesn’t want to do but does. It’s a life-long struggle known to Christians as “sanctification,” that is, “to be made holy,” not suddenly, but through the process (and struggle) of living. There is enough of the old me and the world behind it to make it a challenge at times, but the point is that now my free will is informed by a heart that knows Christ. Where before, I, like the buzzard, had no choice but through my nature to choose that which was in opposition to God, I now have been freed from that nature to choose that which is right in his eyes.
In this I have hope. That I am no longer abandoned to my own motives, but rather have surrendered to motives that will be true and right no matter the situation. In this I am drawn back to another line from the song I quoted at the beginning of this article:
“Our sin is death, Christ is life. Either way, all of us are slaves. One kills. One saves.”
So true.