Motivation Matters
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“You’re not the boss of me!” “They can’t TELL ME what to do!”
I’m not sure there are any of us who do not on some level have authority issues. Unless, of course, we have the authority and THEN it’s not an issue. And, yes, the authority that one has over us is a hot topic of discussion these days. Now, I’m not going to get into all that, for it could open a whole can of worms and we have but a brief few minutes here.
That being said, I DO think we should take some time to reflect on who it is that DOES call the shots with respect to our thoughts, words, and deeds. In fact, I would say that a mark of a mature Christian would be to be intentional about revisiting this topic as a regular part of our walk with Christ.
Another reason why this kind of inventory of our thoughts, words, and deeds is so crucial relates to the ‘why’ of our lives. Especially in times of high stress and emotion, we must be careful not only in what we do or say, but why we do or say various things.
In the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he addresses this very topic. Let us hear selected verses beginning at verse twelve:
Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions…present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life…For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
You want to talk about a church under stress? You want to talk about living in a time and place where it is hard to be a Christian and it seems like ‘the powers that be’ are out to get you? Here’s a deep, dark, dirty little secret you don’t want to miss - if you think our current society is rather pagan, go examine the paganism rampant in the Rome of Paul’s time. The churches (for ‘the Church at Rome’ consisted of house churches) faced far more resistance and opposition than what you might think is happening in our society (no matter what you may be reading or hearing in other venues.)
And, yet, Paul’s is a word of encouragement. Paul is not oblivious at all to the challenges they faced, nor does he dismiss those challenges. Instead, he makes a simple plea - lead a transformed life because you now are living a life in response to God’s grace, where you are led by the spirit of God at work in and through the community of faith and the hearts of those who follow Christ.
The Romans are hearing a message that is absolutely clear - SOMETHING leads our lives. Be it the power of sin (which is cleverly deviant in that it can fool even the most well-intentioned) or the grace of God which flows from Christ, we are either responding or reacting to external forces.
Paul also has a rather annoying habit of not letting people off the hook. He clearly anticipates those searching for ‘loopholes,’ and as a result calls them to understand that God’s grace is not ‘cheap grace’ but transformative grace. Those who have chosen to follow Christ cannot use grace as a ‘get out of jail free’ card to go do whatever they want because they know Christ forgives sin.
So, let’s wrap this up where we began. In a time where so many are so passionate about who does and who does not tell them what to do, so passionate about personal autonomy, let’s be mature and responsible followers of Christ who are set not on being our own boss, not calling our own shots, but instead follow the leadings of Christ.
Our motivation matters…is it about us having control, or is it about allowing God to be the one leading us? Our motivation matters…why do we choose to follow Christ, and do our thoughts, words, and deeds match our rhetoric?
God’s motivation is quite clear - a love for all of creation. May we be as clear about our motivation - and seek God’s help in changing our motivation if need be so that we might find ourselves in the midst of God’s will.