When it comes to teaching my child about God: My natural inclination is to urge him to "be good," that being good is God's primary requirement of us. Now I am leaning toward a different perspective. Perhaps my equating goodness with closeness to God is a set up for failure, disappointment, and doubt in later life. Afterall, we're all human. Eventually we sin badly and at some deep, primitive (not intellectual) level, we then feel like we've lost God. However, the Bible is full of examples of serious sinners-- murderers and other evil doers-- who became God's key representatives.
So, the message must be that it's not about "be good," rather it's about "keep trying." In other words, when sin knocks us down, we are asked to keep getting up; when sin sucks us in (as it eventually will), we must keep reaching for God. We are not required to be good, but to keep our determination for God. Isn't that what faith is? Be resilient in our spiritual faith rather than just do humanistic, good works.
No comments:
Post a Comment