the basic message #E204
October 22, 2003
What does God want? Sure, it's a loaded question, but have you ever considered it? Okay, let's begin to narrow the scope of the question by adding two little words: "from me". Now things start to get personal, but since when isn't everything personal when God is concerned? I asked the question of myself this week, and I was somewhat surprised to find out that maybe I really don't know. I guess the thing that frightens me the most is that I really don't think most Christians have ever contemplated "What does God want from me?"
Let's look at some possible popular answers. "He wants me to go to church." "He wants me to read my Bible." "He wants me to accept Jesus as my personal Savior." All are good answers, to be sure, but what do these things do for anyone beyond yourself? It seems that we have made many Christian "functions" into the goal itself, but in reality, the functions are just the road we travel to get to the goal. Here's an example: I've been studying some of the prophets this week, and I find my Bible littered with my notes in the margins nearly everywhere I read. Does God want me to read it again? I would say in some cases I might need to go back and re-read passage many times to get a true understanding, but in most cases the message was clear the first time. So what does God want? I think he wants me to act on what I've read. Like what? Like this:
Isaiah 1:17
Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
This is pretty simple and straightforward, right? Should every Christian be seeking justice? Absolutely. How about this one: Raise the minimum wage. Isn't that just? Oh, you're one of those who want to tie justice into some sort of legal definition. Justice, my friend, is pursuing things that are just. Millions of Christians are against raising the minimum wage- why? Selfishness, pure and simple. They're afraid they might have to pay $10 for a McDonald's value meal instead of $3. They're afraid if they have to pay their employees another 50 cents per hour, their personal income might go down. Do the math- in most states the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. That works out to $206 per week, $10712 per year. I'd guess that by the time taxes are paid, a person might take home somewhere around $700 per month. Check around in your area to see what an apartment rents for. In my area, a low cost one bedroom generally starts at about $500.
The oppressed in our society is often the underpaid, but the largely Republican Capitalist Christian isn't worried too much about the poor as long as they can have their toys. Know what I think? I think God would rather see a business owner pay his employees a fair wage than put a big check in the weekly offering. Some might protest that paying people can't compare to tithing, but I think not. If a church is using money to evangelize, thereby proclaiming the love of Christ, can't that be compared to an employer proclaiming the love of Christ by sharing in his good fortune?
So what does God want? I think God wants his people to extend his love to others in practical ways. Someone else thought so too:
James 2:15-16
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "God, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
Well said, my brother.