Motives (Pt 1)

I've done a lot of thinking about this blog and columns. In the beginning, I created this blog. Unlike The Supreme One, I had no purpose, rhyme or reason to do so. I had some things that had been stewing in my hamster wheel, and it was cluttering my mind. This was a way to put my thoughts down in some version of permanence, which allowed me to promptly clear out my head for some new thoughts. At least that was the idea. Unfortunately all I have now is an empty head. Anyway, I've made a lot of mistakes, and I tried a lot of different directions. At first I was going for the application side of Christianity, what it's like to live in the real world not in some fantasy Christian-land. Then I took a dark turn and started to rant and rave for a while. Now, I think I'm ready to try the middle path. I'm not going to give my opinions anymore. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop talking about controversial topics, but it means that what I will endeavor to do is to provide both sides of the argument, and let you, my dearest reader, to decide for yourself. And today is as good a day to start.

While (You will never read "whilst" from me in this blog or ever! I think it's highly pretentious.) I was doing my once-in-a-blue-moon Bible Study/ Quiet Time, I came upon an interesting verse, and it literally shook one of my core beliefs. So interested was I in it, that yes, I actually bought an expository Bible (granted it was used, and as I found out much later, a very old version, so yeah you could say I was ripped off... especially when a friend offered to give me a copy for free. But isn't that what friendship is all about? Ripping off each other?) just to see if my understanding of it was correct or not. I'm still not sure. Ahh, what is it, you ask? Sorry peeps, but you'll have to wait til Thursday to find out. For now, I want to talk about: the heart.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Co 13:1)

This well-known verse is commonly understood to mean that without love, all your spiritual gifts are meaningless. Or put it another way, it's all about your motives. You could be blessed with God's most powerful miracle abilities, but if your heart isn't in the right place, then it is wasted. Even now, people are so focused on skills and super-human abilities, that they forget why they have the gifts in the first place. It's not to puff yourself up, but it's to show God's love.

Paul even continues on. Knowledge, faith? All nice things to have. Gifts of charity? Martydom? Yeah, those really evoke noble images. But they're not things that make a Christian unique. Even non-Christians are capable of such acts. Look at those who die for apartheid, injustice, even trees! But, if these acts are done without love, then it's all for nothing. No one will be brought to Christ because of these self-sacrifices. It's not the actions that move people, but the reasons behind the actions. Let's use this short scenario as an exercise. You see a guy rush out to save a beautiful girl from almost being hit by a car. That is certainly a noble thing. How would you still feel if right after that, you see him ask her for her phone number and later for a date? Now what if instead, just before she was almost hit by the car, she had robbed the guy at gun point and was trying to make a quick get-away? Which scenario would make you stop and think? I would venture the second would. Why? Because it's counter-intuitive, it doesn't appear to be a selfish act, whereas in the first scenario, you're left wondering if he saved her to make himself look good. The second scenario looks like the guy did it out of love, or concern for her health, regardless of what she just did to him.

There are plenty of other passages (Pro 16:2, 1 Chr 28:9, 1 Cor 4:5) that deal with the hidden motives. God always looks at someone's heart, rather than their actions. It's this power, that makes God the perfect Judge. So for everything you do, keep that in mind. You aren't doing it for other people, you are doing it for God. And when God calls you up on your actions, don't try to lie to Him about it. Do you want to know what happens when you forget this very important point?

Well, sit back, put your feet up, and let me regale you a tale. During the early church days, there was a dude named Barnabas. He sold a field and donated all the proceeds to the Church. There was much praise for him. Another guy, named Ananias and his wife Sapphira, saw this and wanted that praise. So he too sold some land, but kept part of the proceeds for himself. Then he gave the rest of the money to the apostles. But instead of praise, Peter calls him out a liar, and he dies. His wife comes in later, and lies as well to Peter and plop, she goes down as well. So what's the moral of the story? When you sell land, give all the proceeds to the Church? Well, no, that wasn't the point. The problem with Ananias was that he lied about the donation. He claimed he gave "all" the proceeds to Church, when in fact, he didn't. You can try to lie to others, and your actions may seem righteous, but you can't fool God. He sees through all deceits and subterfuges. And believe me, He will lay the smack down.

Now some will say, that is all there is to this story. The intent of the author is to show you don't lie to God. However, I can't help but wonder why did Ananias try to lie to God? In the verses before, the author writes about Barnabas and the act he did. Ananias did the same act, but he died. The basic act (giving) was the same, but the intentions were not. I wonder, had Ananias told Peter that he was only donating part of the proceeds to the Church, would he have died?