Because you're supposed to...

Now that I’m in college and in this intense reading program, I feel like all I ever do anymore is read. I read for discussions, science, anthropology and all my other classes; I read every word that I write (including this blog); I read billboards, freeway signs, lunch menus, worship lyrics… it gets kind of tiring. Along with all of this reading, I added the book Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller, for something fun and different… and I am so glad I did. Blue Like Jazz is amazing; it’s simple and random at times, but I think that’s probably why I like it so much. Really, it’s like a breath of fresh air to read something I don’t have to concentrate on to understand and, yet, still makes me think (what doesn’t these days?). Today, Donald talked about how he found himself becoming what he was supposed to, but losing who he was. That didn’t make much sense. Okay, he was saying that he was becoming real spiritual… he had become the leader of a youth group and started doing things (particularly Christian things) for that purpose. For example, he started reading the Bible more frequently, using phrases like “God be with you,” telling people to share their faith… but he realized he was only doing those things so that he could teach the group. In his words, “I say what I need to say, do what I need to do, but I don’t really mean it” (96). He didn’t even understand what he was telling people anymore and he really didn’t care. He did what he was supposed to because he was supposed to… no other reason.

I totally resonate with Donald, the author, on this one; it was really rather convicting, but I wonder how many others are the same. I think we fall into a routine of “talking the talk” and making it look like we are “walking the walk.” But this made me wonder if we only do it because we are Christian and that’s what we’re supposed to do… you know, like checking off the list of things Christians are supposed to do. Do I really do those things because in the deepest part of my heart I want to do Christian things more than anything else? I don’t know. And what are the Christian things to do anyway? Is Christianity something you do and follow because you’re supposed to? No! Most emphatically no! Yes, you’re supposed to do it, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you love Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. You do it because you have come to know and cherish Christ so much that His desires have become yours. Now, how many of us can actually say that? I like how Donald pointed out that many of us don’t obey because we don’t love, and we don’t love because we don’t allow ourselves to be loved by God. God wants to love us! How dare we think we aren’t good enough to deserve it or to think we are above His grace? Both ideas hinder us from being loved. It is only when we know His love that we can know how to love Him. And when we have reason to love Him, we should stop at nothing to obey Him. Living Christianly is not out of requirement, but out of True Love.