Forget the destination. Be on the way.
"Make money while you sleep!"
"Get a beach body with only 10 minutes of exercise a day!"
"Learn to read a 300-page book in 5 minutes!""
Perhaps you've heard claims like this. Perhaps you've joined the "thousands of others who found success" with these offers. We live in a culture that wants maximum results for minimum effort. We want to reach our desired destination, whether that be a wealth amount, a number on the scale, or that time we can finally think "I'm a good person," and we've all been tempted to take shortcuts.
Not all shortcuts are bad. Some are great. However, there are some things that cannot be life hacked.
Sadly, the desire to be productive and shortcut our way to a destination has crept into our spiritual lives as well. What is the minimum requirement to achieve what I want? If I'm going to give 10 minutes of my morning to prayer, I want results. Give me the best method to crush my devotions.
We don't have the patience for the slow, earthy reality of being human, and we don't have the desire to simply be "on the way." We'd rather be there.
You see this attitude when Peter approaches Jesus and asks him, "How many times must I forgive someone?" (Matthew 18:21). In other words, what is the minimum level to pass and be a forgiving person?
You also see this attitude in an interesting exchange between a lawyer and Jesus in Luke 10. The lawyer approaches Jesus and asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life." Luke records his intention was to test Jesus and Jesus' knowledge of the Scriptures, but as the conversation unfolds we see something else rise up in the lawyer's heart.
Jesus gives him the standard teacher answer: “What of you think?” The lawyer responds:
“'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'”
~ Luke 10:27
So far so good: total devotion to and delight in God, and love, kindness, and justice toward neighbour. Jesus tells the lawyer he’s answered correctly and says, “Do this and you will live.”
This is the beginning of the unravelling for the lawyer. Notice what Jesus does and does not say. Jesus does not commend the lawyer for his knowledge. Rather, he says, "Do this and you will live." In other words, knowing what I must do to inherit eternal life is insufficient. I must actually "do this."
Do this? Now the lawyer needs more details.
"But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'"
~ Luke 10:29
Perhaps the lawyer feels a bit foolish. Perhaps he wants to reassert his intelligence. Or, perhaps there is an attempt to life hack this command and do as little as possible to achieve the desired result of being a loving neighbour.
In asking this question the lawyer reveals his heart. He was trying to exclude responsibility for others by making some his “non-neighbours” (who he would not have to love and serve) and others his neighbour (who he would be required to love and serve). What is the bare minimum I must do to be a good neighbour? (As mentioned, the same attitude in Peter's question).
That question is a "What must I do to know I've arrived" question, but what the lawyer needed to do is ask a "what must I do to be on the way" question. For the lawyer, a better question would have been “How can I be a loving neighbour?” In other words, instead of trying to exclude responsibility (who is my neighbour, who isn’t), we must take responsibility (how can I be a neighbour).
Jesus’ answer (which answers both the lawyer’s improper question and the proper one) is the famous parable of the Good Samaritan: to be a neighbour is to show mercy.
PAUSE and REFLECT: are you content to be "on your way," or are you often frustrated with not being at your desired place of spiritual growth?
When you think about it, giving God devotion and delight is not always easy, and offering love, kindness, and justice to our neighbour is equally hard. So let me stop you right there with a bit of reassurance.
There is no bare minimum to be done. You have already reached maximum level of being loved by God. You already are fully holy in his eyes (thank you, Jesus). Nothing will change that. So the only frustration you're feeling is coming from yourself - it never comes from God.
Can you accept that your formation is a godly work in progress? Can you accept that YOU are a godly work in progress?
I get it (believe me, I do). We want to "be there." When will I know I've arrived? When will I know I'm a forgiving person? a merciful person? a good neighbour?
The short answer is you won't, because you'll always be "on the way." So we look to keep taking responsibility for showing our neighbour mercy. We don't turn away from being kind, just, and loving to all humans.
However, let us remember that "he who began a good work in you will see it through to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" [i.e. when Jesus returns] (Philippians 1:6).
You'll always be on the way, until you're not.
—
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash