We live in a world where everything costs something. Nothing is free. You want a promotion at work, you earn it. You want to be on the varsity volleyball team, you prove yourself to be good enough. You want a taco from Taco Bueno, you fork over $1.29. This mentality has been so deeply engraved in my heart and mind, that I have become a performer. I strive for perfection, the approval of others, and worst of all, I strive for God’s favor.
I have learned that it is easy to get a skewed view of God when you are looking through the lens of the world. When I strive for all these things, I become someone who loves rules more than God. I become a moralist.
Matt Chandler says it best,
“While true obedience is a result of love, moralistic legalism assumes it works the other way around, that love results from obedience. From the standpoint of moralistic legalism, root issues aren’t of utmost importance; appearing obedient is.”
For the past year, I have had this picture in my head where God is standing by a sticker chart. The sticker chart has my name in big bold black letters at the top. If I do something “good”, I get a star… if I do something “bad” He rips a sticker off. It has been a constant game of cat and mouse… never quite being able to get my chart completely full with stickers. It has been exhausting.
But what I realized was that the sticker chart isn’t this new revelation. I remember growing up going to Sunday School striving for stickers. I remember my Sunday School teacher giving out stickers for various reasons. When you walked in the door, you would get a sticker for just showing up, but throughout the hour… you could earn more if you did more “good” things. You could get a star for memorizing a bible verse or bringing a friend to church. Even as a grade schooler, I remember seeing everyone’s name on the chart and comparing. Questioning my “goodness” based on the gold stickers in my row.
Even after 20 years, there is hope. There is hope because God has used 43 orphans I lived with in Cambodia to rip that sticker chart right off the wall of my heart and mind. I lived with a constant entourage of kids who loved me just the way I am. Shoot I am a pale, crazy, American stranger…. yet they loved me. Everyday when they would get home from school, I would be greeted with big grins and warm hugs. They were soooo excited to see me. These 43 kids have given me a beautifully clear picture of God’s love for me. They have shown me the Gospel.
With joy and laughter, these kids have called me out of a pit and into the light of God’s grace and love. God is not an impatient, stingy parent always irritated at my weaknesses and failures. The moralist in me wants to focus on the failures, and believe that the Father thinks I am a fool. But the Father rejoices over me with singing and has a banquet feast awaiting for me. The Gospel I am living for is centered around the atoning work of Jesus Christ, all pointing back to God’s glory.
I’m learning that religion doesn’t bring freedom, it actually brings shackles. Moralism has put prison walls around me. I have been chained by the rules and regulations of religion. And I have tried to earn God’s favor.
Just look at Galatians, Paul is warning these church people about his past life. He is waving the red flag telling them that what they think will bring freedom will enslave them. What they think will bring transformation, will in reality bring much frustration. What they think will bring life will actually bring death.
The Gospel that set Paul free, and the Gospel that set me free… can absolutely bring freedom to you as well! You, my friend, have complete access to the Papa. Go to Him. He wants to be with you. He wants you to sit at His feet and rest. You don’t have to have all the words. You don’t even have to have all the stickers.
I challenge you to just spend 10 minutes with God. Ask Him, “What do I need to stop striving from?” I promise you, He will answer.
