“Christianity is not an invitation to become a moral person. It is not a program for getting us in line or for reforming society. It has a powerful effect upon our lives, but when transformation comes, it is always the aftereffect of something else, something at the level of our hearts. At its core, Christianity begins with an invitation to desire." 1
This statement kind of rocks what I learned growing up, but I believe it is true. I often used to wish that Jesus had just given us a comprehensive list of all the things we should do and shouldn’t do and prevent the endless debating. The fact that such a list does not exist in the entire Bible is significant to me. It tells me that I was looking for the wrong thing.
When I read the Sermon on the Mount, I am struck with how many times Jesus emphasizes the heart, the motivation for what we are doing. In Matthew 6, Jesus says that, if we fast or pray to be noticed by others, then we have no reward from God. Fasting and praying are both good things – as long as they are done with the right motivation.
The proper motivation for doing the right thing is that we love God so much that we desire to do the things that will make him happy (see John 14 and 15). The same is true in marriage. We do things for our spouse because we love them, not because we want something. That is why Eldredge says, “Christianity begins with an invitation to desire”. When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, he didn’t try to straighten out her theology; he spoke to her desire. Many times when Jesus healed a person, he began by asking what they wanted.
I know that the Bible says that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), but God also promises to give us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). When we have allowed God to give us a new heart with new desires, we can embrace those desires because they are born of God. Psalm 37:4 promises: “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Chad Hess
1 Eldredge, John. (2001). The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We’ve Only Dreamed Of. Nashville: Nelson Books, p. 35
Chad, I think you're right on track! Today in my C.P.E. chaplain training group we talked about what the purpose of our existence is. Many came down on the side of "service" (this would include "living morally to be a good example to others") - we were desiged by God to do something. I believe that is only half the truth. The classic Westminster Shorter Catechism (kind of a Protestant "28 Fundamentals") asks the question, "What is the chief end of man?" and then answers, " Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." In this brief statement lies a "dual" purpose for our creation/existence - "to glorify God" (our instrumental purpose met by living a moral, servant-hearted, active life) and to "enjoy him forever" (our "being" purpose, created to be with Father, Son and Holy Spirit in intimate fellowship). In our "being" purpose lies what Eldridge calls "desire." It is what St. Augustine was talking about when he said, "You have made us for yourself. And our hearts are restless until they rest in you." As Adventists, we tend to focus on our instrumental purpose and find it easier to talk about our "reasonable" service (moral living, witnessing, etc.) than in the desires of our heart (intimacy with God and with each other.) It is to our detriment.
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