The Role of Christians

Despite our best efforts to make the Bible and God's will confusing, they're usually not. For example, the answer to one of the most important "what is God's will" questions, namely the purpose of mankind, is crystal clear. Does that surprise you? If this was ever unclear, or up for debate, Jesus put it to rest when He answered a question posed by religious leaders of the time. These leaders, who had (like most of us) missed the forest for the trees, asked Jesus this: "Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Good question eh?

Well, Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

You see, the Bible is full of admonishments and commands, but they aren't all weighted equally. Jesus put the emphasis right where it belongs. Love God and love people.

This is, I believe, the purpose of the Christian life, and the purpose of the church. That's right. You and me, we exist to love God and people.

But what does that mean?

Loving God means enjoying Him and the gifts He gives (which serve to point us to Him as the giver of good things), and by making much of Him. Most people are very good at enjoying God's gifts, they're just not so hot at recognizing them as gifts from God. We also tend to not be so great at enjoying God. This is wrapped up in the gospel, and could use a big explanation (which I won't do here), but, simply put, it's recognizing that His very person and characteristics are the only place that joy can fully be found.

Additionally, we make much of Him by telling others about Him. C.S. Lewis does a great job of describing this, and I think I've even quoted it in this blog before, when he says "The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers praising their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars." We praise everything around us naturally. God is the ultimate good and is ultimately deserving of our praise. If you don't talk well about your spouse (i.e. praise) then your love for them is called into question. If we don't praise God (both when alone and when speaking with others), then our love for Him is questionable.

The other primary purpose of mankind is to love people. There are lots of great ways to love people, such as feeding the poor, helping the helpless, and finding ways to make the world more like God intended it to be. That said, I don't believe those alone to be the best means of loving others. If I truly believe that God is the ultimate source of joy, and the only one who can break the cruel taskmasters to which people are enslaved, then pointing people to God is the most loving thing I can do.

So, if we assume these purposes to be true, and truly primary, then what are all the commands throughout the Bible there for? Well, they're there to promote and further the cause of God (Love). Oh, and just to be clear, love is not always what people think of as love. Love does not always let people go down a self-destructive path. Loving a buddy of mine does not mean I let him abuse his spouse. In short, love does not always mean letting the other person get their way. Love is doing what is best for that person. Oh, and to be clear here, that does not mean that they should be berated with the gospel either. Love is patient and kind. Love waits for the recipient (of the gospel) to be ready to act on it, and does not force the issue.

I alluded to it before (when talking about other means of loving people), but all means of loving people can, and should, point people to God. I can feed the poor and help the helpless because I believe they're made in the image of God, and are valuable to Him. I love the fact that many of the seemingly bizarre commands in the old testament are much less bizarre when we look at them from the perspective of love. For example, if you read the Bible as a book of rules, then when you read that you should put a parapet on your roof, you'll think "gosh, that's bizarre." But, when you read the Bible as God's story, which is all about loving Him and loving people, then you see a parapet as a good and loving thing, which keeps people from falling off your roof and dying.

Love is the consistent, overarching theme of the Bible. Whole books could be, and have been, written on this subject...so I'm going to stop before this becomes a book. That said, I hope this gives you pause, as it has me, to consider what you are doing to pursue the purpose of your life.

P.S. - If you want to know if you are using your day-to-day life to its fullest for this purpose, see my prior post (which is just a link to a short Jeff Vanderstelt video).

P.P.S. - I don't think I'm supposed to use P.S. in a blog. Oh well.