Motive.

I found this article through Piebald's blog, but I wanted to share it on here. The article is entitled Christian Hedonism. Piper makes a couple of good points here that I wanted to share...not necessarily related to an argument surrounding Christian hedonism, but just surrounding our motives as we live the Christian life.

Hebrew 11:6 enters combat with Immanuel Kant. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." You cannot please God if you do not come to him as rewarder. Therefore, worship which pleases God is the hedonistic pursuit of God in whose presence is fullness of joy and in who hand are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11).

It reminded me of the story of Cain and Able. I'm not going to go into it here, but the clear issue between the offerings was the heart in which they were given. It's the same as the story of the widow and her offering, where she "gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all." (Mark 12: 41-44) This lesson of the condition of the heart is reinforced again and again. What you give doesn't matter. It's how you give it. God is God...he will provide for it all, regardless of what he is given. If it is within his will for 5,000 of us to eat fish, we will. It doesn't matter if the boy gives 3, 4, or 700 fish...God will provide. He doesn't need us to give so that he can work. He needs us to give for our own good...for our heart, and furthermore, our happiness. He went on to say:

We will bend all our effort, by the Holy Spirit, to persuade people

• that "abuse suffered for the Christ [is] greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt" (Hebrews 11:26);
  
• that they can be happier in giving than receiving (Acts 20:35);
  
• that they should count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus their Lord (Philippians 3:8);
  
• that the aim of all of Jesus' commandments is that their joy might be full (John 15:11);
  
• that if they delight themselves in the Lord he will give them the desire of their heart (Psalm 37:4);
  
• that there is great gain in godliness with contentment (1 Timothy 6:6);
  
• and that the joy of the Lord is their strength (Nehemiah 8:11).

We will not try to motivate their ministry by Kantian appeals to mere duty. We will tell them that delight in God is their highest duty. But we will remind them that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2), and that Hudson Taylor, at the end of a life full of suffering and trial, said, "I never made a sacrifice."

We will not try to motivate their ministry by Kantian appeals to mere duty? We won't? Can I get a show of hands of people who have ever been guilted into ministry work? Wow. We will remind them that Jesus endured the cross for the JOY that was set before him. We need to remind people that delight in God IS their highest duty. What a convicting passage.

But what good does it do for me to blog about it, but not put it into practice?

I will be honest here. I have had a hard time lately with being joyful in the Lord...or what I do for him. Getting up for church...doing devotions or other reading...just seemed a struggle for me. I've gotten caught up in the legality of it all. Not doing devotions results in guilt, which (for me - idk about you) results in me feeling like I need to do something to better myself before I go back to doing devotions. But how laughable is that. It's such a joke...but that's how I feel. I have also realized lately that I rely too much on doing things because they are the right things to do. I.e...going to church because I "should" or to avoid feeling guilty when Mom asks if we have found a church yet. You know...the Christian checklist mode. But man, it's o-n-l-y all about the heart. I am pretty sure God doesn't even care if I go to church or not if I don't have the right heart about it. Apply that to a whole congregation and see how many you have actually stay. If we all truly believed in the checklist above like most of us say we do, how would that completely revitalize the face of Christianity. Sometimes I need to be reminded that delight in GOD is my highest duty. Not one of us is better than another. We are all saved only by the grace of God.