The way of the Master

I have heard Christians claim in the past that God's Will always calls men to professions that are difficult, trying, and contrary to what they are good at or enjoy. While this may seem on the surface to be true, I believe that comments such as these are distortions of the truth, and not the heart of God that those who have experienced such a call are meant to see. To discuss this topic further, let us first consider the origin of humanities' desires and motivations and the effects that sin produces upon that origin.

The bible states that God has formed us in his own image. An image, understood as in a portrait, is a flat (let us say finite) creation meant to resemble the attributes of an object or person that has shape. (let us say infinite) It is my belief that the nature of God, being eternal, is limitless in its expansiveness and is therefore impossible to fit into one person. For this reason, I would suggest that each man receives but a portion of God's character that is central to his core desires and motivations. Along with this portion, God has also placed in every man an unquenchable desire for the rest of the attributes of God that are only alluded to in his own life. One has only to look around at the actions of the typical person to realize that, though terribly distorted by sin, the taste of the character of God in that person and their desire to know and experience the infinite attributes of God, are evident in the choices they make and the things they strive for.

To discuss the effects of sin on this portion of God's character that resides in each man, let us first examine sin using the following definition: any distortion of a creation of God. A distortion, by definition, has no substance of its own, no "self" to hold its shape; it is simply a misinterpretation of a real object by a real object. It is then safe to assume that God inherently, when He created man's free will, gave him the ability to distort His perfect creation and thereby sin. Mar 7:20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. Mar 7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, Mar 7:22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. Mar 7:23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." Notwithstanding the waterfall of arguments that might be incited by this assumption that sin does not exist aside from men's perception, let us continue on to consider its effects.

Adam and Eve were imbued with the attributes of God perhaps more than any two people that are recorded in biblical history. The Bible is not specific about the time that elapsed before the first sin occurred, but regardless, they walked with God fully in His presence learning from His mouth directly. This was possible because they were perfect and without sin. I am convinced that in their hearts was a holy desire for wisdom and for the power of God. Since they were perfect, this desire must have stemmed from a longing to bring God glory and worship by the filling of their lives with the things of Him and by becoming more like Him by this knowledge. When the serpent came to Eve and said Gen 3:4 "You surely will not die! Gen 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it (the tree) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil," the serpent presented Eve with distortions of Holy desires already implanted in her from creation. The distortion came not in the idea of attaining wisdom or becoming like God, but in the reason for, and the means of, doing so. Eve was now introduced to a wholly selfish idea of attaining what were Holy desires by a means other than faith and trust in the Father God.

If we then apply this to our own lives as Christians, we see that there is one root of our desires -the nature of God and the longing to be like him, and two resultant attempts to attain satisfaction. The first, most "natural" and certainly the easiest in the short run, is that same selfish path passed down from the very first act of rebellion in the garden. It is the striving of our old man by its own strength to attain power and "god-likeness." It is inherently prideful in its boast that it can attain its own desires without the help of the Heavenly Father. This is earthly pleasure and when we claim that God calls us to do things that are hard and that we are not good at, it is this path that we are alluding to. It is in the opposite direction of this path that God beckons fervently. For this path's end is always destruction; it is always born of a distortion of the means by which we can attain satisfaction of our heart's Divine desires. The fact that God calls us away from this path does not mean that God is calling us away from what we enjoy or take pleasure in, only away from that which cannot truly satisfy us. Our deepest joy and pleasure comes from the satisfying of our deepest motivations; those same motivations that are born of the nature of God and can only truly be satiated by a pursuit of Him -the second path. This second path necessitates a surrender of our heart's distortions and a desperate cry to God by faith that He would let us see less dimly in the mirror by which we see His Kingdom.

We will never, in this present life, rid ourselves of the ability to distort God's perfect creation and the desires that He created us with. However, we must, above all, seek to keep our heart from turning mere distortions into delusions. A delusion is when one accepts a viewpoint that is false even when presented with undeniable evidence of the truth. For the Christian, whenever we are presented with the preposition of satisfying a Divine desire that requires faith and we choose instead to cower in fear, attempting to find an earthly way that does not require faith, we begin to form a delusion. Unfortunately, many of us go about our lives with countless delusions underlying our daily decisions. Delusions about protection, provision, careers, family, church and witnessing. A delusion is most certainly a stronghold of sin in our lives.

Eph 4:17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, Eph 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; Eph 4:19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Eph 4:20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, Eph 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, Eph 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, Eph 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Eph 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

(All references from http://www.blueletterbible.com/ -NASB version, emphasis added)