Lessons and Trends in Progressive Christian Faith
by Brad Duncan
A 6-part series on the church, faith and theology,
and how they can move forward into the next generation.
God's Will and Purpose
There's something wrong with our religion when it leads us to try to please God instead of relate with him.
As Christians, we're all trying to do the right thing. We're trying to believe the right thing, do God's will, give him the credit for all good gifts, honor him as holy, and sing his praises. From a very early age I learned that the most important thing in life was to please God and do his will. I can't knock us Christians for our good intentions :) in this regard.
So I want to challenge us on this from two directions, two ways to view the same thing. From one side, I would ask if all of this trying to do the right thing, is really, ... the right thing? Does God want our sacrifices, actions, songs, beliefs that are pointed in the direction of pleasing him? Is there anything that God wants us to do? Any instructions, any right worship? Any right individual purpose? On the other hand, from the other side I would ask if we could describe what God really desires? What is God really interested in, what are his passions, what are his intentions? If we could find those, maybe we could do "his will" best by getting doing what he cares about the most.
Reflecting on the first point, is God pleased by our focus on serving him, whether through individual disciplines, worship or religious practices? The Christian routine is to gather every week for worship in an effort to bring our collective focus on God through various acts like singing, praying, reading the Bible. We practice and talk about traditions. We practice our arts: orchestral, vocal, guitar riffs, PowerPoint slides, light shows, sermons, prayers. We talk about how good it is to be in God's house and do something great that will shine our light brightly in the world by worshiping our God. We talk about how each person can take that same "church moment" and live it all week long to be a light in the world. The we invest a little time in shaking hands with some people, maybe having a cup of coffee. We take an offering and use the money for good works, and to keep the lights on.
Of course I'm speaking broadly and your church may have a more people-focus than what I am describing, but can our churches answer "yes" to any of these questions:
