Righteousness as a Means to an End

I have discovered a pattern emerging in my life and the lives of others in response to the grace message.

I find that a lot of people, who come to the message of grace, still hold on to a whole lot of institutional mindsets. A common theme in Christianity seems to be preachers making a whole lot of extravagant promises, based on a whole lot of tall stories. Another common theme is that Christians are given the impression that they are growing and that they need to change and improve in some way or another. The most common buzz-word in relation to this pursuit is inner-transformation.

So there is the accepted notion amongst grace-believers that they are already right with God, saved regardless of their conduct, but that they must do something in order to attain the ultimate goal of inner-transformation. Such people will often quote Romans 12:2 as their main supporting verse for this concept: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. But we don’t know exactly what this transformed state will look, feel or sound like.

For many Christians, their efforts seem to focus mainly on sin-management. Therefore, for many the transformed state as a result of a renewed mind, is a sinless, Christ-like state – which is not only unrealistic, but is simply a distraction to us, because it gets us focusing once again on our behaviour. As far as I’m concerned, this transformed state, more than anything, is found in Romans 14:17 - righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Christians are trained to not accept themselves the way that they are.

Modern mega-churches operate on the fuel of thousands of dissatisfied Christians amassing under one roof with the shared idea that God will bless them extravagantly – if they follow the rules, or “principles” and if they use certain “formulas”. These principles and formulas will undoubtedly have something to do with tithing to the church and buying the latest book or CD with some catchy title that promises power and wealth – all in the name of serving the Lord, of course. These churches have to ham-it-up with extravagant promises – it’s the only way they can survive; it’s the only way they can run a building that remains empty most of the week – a building in which the leaders tell other people what they should and should not do – oftentimes in the most patronising ways!

When Christians come into the message of grace, they still have this mindset that they need to change or that they are transforming in some way; they might have evolved beyond to the belief that they need to keep rules, yet there is still the drive towards changing their life in some way. It seems that these expectations become a source of hope for Christians who are feeling disappointed with life, and disappointed with themselves. However, these expectations become yet another way in which to not accept themselves the way that they are, and to heap burdens and guilt upon themselves. These expectations could be something biblical and plausible, such as healing. Even so, there is still a great deal of stress around the need to control something about their lives -- as if thinking about it will make a positive difference.

Surely, if we truly trusted in God -- we wouldn't even think about getting needs met, or try to work out how we will get this or that. Perhaps this is the key to healing and provision in the message of grace? The key being that we do not even think about those things that we need. After all, isn't that what Jesus told us to do, that we should not give a thought for our lives? It seems that as soon as we even touch upon a subject with our minds -- it is as if we are contaminating it with our unbelief and distrust in God.

The message of grace ought to be the acceptance of ourselves -- just the way that we are. Despite this, I still see a trend with some grace believers in that they are always talking about who they will become, what they will do and how God will bless or "use" them -- when they finally grow in grace and believe that they are right with God. With this kind of attitude – a Christian will never accept the fact that they finally believe they are right with God, and therefore, actually are right with God – until certain criteria are met.

So it seems in this way that the message of grace seems to be a means to an end for some Christians -- instead of being an end in itself.

I suppose what believers are doing is thinking about the promise of Jesus that says that "all these things" will be added to them if they seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So, they go after righteousness, not to experience peace of mind, but to possess "all these things". They think to themselves, “If I believed that I was right with God, then I would stop doing _______,” or, “When I finally have faith in righteousness – then God will give me _______”. But these pre-conceived ideas simply become yet another hurdle in our pursuit of acceptance of self.

The irony of this situation is that what people really want and need is to be happy – to experience peace and joy as the norm rather than the exception. But if people were to experience peace and joy in their life – they would find that everything else in their life just lines-up and slots together just right. People only seek after extravagant wealth when they are dissatisfied with life in general. In this way, money becomes a supposed cure-all method for life’s upsets.

I would say our goal ought to be to simply be at peace with our lives as it is -- no matter what our financial position, health or relationship situation may look like. No matter where we are on the ladder of life, it seems that there is always someone below us and above us.

The greatest catalyst for change, it seems, is acceptance and contentment.

I like the way that grace preacher Bertie Brits teaches on the subject of prosperity: he will always, always emphasise peace of mind and contentment, rather than seeking after wealth and the awful misnomer of trying to “believe God” for something. But Bertie always maintains a good, healthy balance: he does not say that God won’t bless someone financially. No, Bertie will teach that we should simply rest our minds in God’s love for us, knowing that He will meet our needs. It should come as no surprise to people to know that Bertie Brits does not own a mega-church and is not affiliated to one. Bertie Brits simply travels around, mainly Africa, speaking at churches, perhaps at conferences, or holding crusades.

Great gain can come from contentment. But as soon as we attach our own expectations to God’s plan and provision – we get off-course and the result is inevitably going to be disappointment.

For more information on this subject, check-out the Free Believer’s Network “Into the Wild” podcast entitled “The Ideal Self Struggle" dated 16^th Jan 2010.