The Divine Attribute (No. 1)
By Vernon W. Hurst
[Page 88] |
We find ourselves living in a thrilling age. There are those who believe that these are days which bespeak a brighter tomorrow. I feel that it would be completely unrealistic for us to ignore the possibility that they could portend deep grief and tragedy, such as has seldom if ever, fallen the lot of Gentile civilization. It will be enough to admit that they are days of challenge and that the way we react to that challenge will, in all probability, determine our place in the history of mankind. A short time ago, in Washington, D. C., I heard an articulate advocate of applied Christianity express the situation exactly, in these words:
"God is going to do what has to be done, either through us or in spite of us. Only the choice is ours!"
In every corner of what is broadly referred to as the Christian World, thinking men are demonstrating a desire to institute and perpetuate a renewed search for truth. Old dogmas are being critically reviewed. Men are evidencing a willingness to subject to analytical and critical examination even those views long held in deepest reverence. While this unquestionably creates a serious traumatic problem for the fainthearted, it can mean that new areas of truth will be explored for the glory of God and the benefit of man. It can mean that men will find in this new intellectual atmosphere the courage to cross new frontiers and to explore many areas of the unknown. Jesus Christ can assume new importance in our lives and achieve a position of reality and prominence in our hearts which will enable us to say with Paul, "Now I know whom I have believed."
On the other hand, all of the new activity on the intellectual frontier can lead to freedom from Christ and to a degree of godlessness and servitude in unprecedented degree. Freedom in the absolute sense is a delusion. The only freedom given a man by his intellect is the right to choose the area of freedom which is to be his. It must never be forgotten that an area of freedom in one phase of life is purchased at the expense of freedom surrendered in another phase. It has been said that paradoxes are always true. Whether or not this is completely accurate, it is true that every man who is free is at the same time bound by the very thing that makes him free. This is not a new theory. The apostle Paul expressed it far more succinctly than I can hope to do and he did it centuries ago.
"You know well enough that if you put yourself at the disposal of a master, to obey him, you are slaves of the master whom you obey; and this is true whether you serve sin, with death as its result; or obedience (to Christ--VWH), with righteousness as its result. But God be thanked, you who once were slaves of sin, have yielded wholehearted obedience to the pattern of teaching to which you were made subject, and, emancipated from sin, became slaves of righteousness..." (Romans 6:16-18).
It will be noted that putting one's self at the disposal of righteousness, to serve as its willing slave, is the price one must pay for being emancipated from sin. To be free from one master one must submit to another. The only choice life offers us is a choice of masters. We can serve righteousness and live, or we can serve sin and die!
A little sober reflection should enable us to see that the purpose of our lives depends upon motivation. The most obvious motivations which come to mind are the fear of punishment and the desire for reward. I would not want to deny that both have some part in the life of the Christian. No normal person wants to be punished. No normal person is completely immune to the promise of reward. I think no one will be inclined to deny this and yet a modicum of sober thought will reveal that both are self-centered motivations.
One fears punishment because it is un-
[Page 89] |
A prominent psychologist once stated that the only really successful way of making anyone do anything is to make them want to do it. Fear of punishment or the desire for reward are both capable of doing this, to a degree. Any action thus produced, however, must be basically selfish or introversial in nature. I will not insult the intelligence of my readers by assuming the necessity for demonstrating the inadequacy of any such motivation in Christianity. That selfishness is an attitude to be avoided and never cultivated nor appealed to, is something which no student of the inspired writings will seek to deny for a moment.
We live almost twenty centuries after Christianity was set in action in the world. No one will deny that it has benefitted mankind. I sincerely believe that such benefits have been more or less incidental to the purpose it was designed to serve. In order to know that something is seriously wrong, one needs only to become aware of the startling fact that after two thousand years, approximately three-fifths of the sons and daughters of men are unaware that the founder of Christianity ever lived. That "something wrong" is the unassailable conclusion that, in our hands, Christianity has failed on a world wide basis. Do not misinterpret what I say. God has not failed. We have failed. He provided all of the elements of success. We have not made proper use of them.
I hold to the belief that scientific thought requires that one first look for the answer in the realm of simplicity and the uncomplicated. I am ashamed of what my generation has done with a cause so vital as to justify the death of God's Son on a cross. I am not too happy with what we inherited from the generations before us, nor am I too certain of what we are preparing to pass on to those following us on the stage of time. As a consequence of this I have looked for the answer. In my own heart I feel that I have found it in the realm of the simple and uncomplicated. Incidentally, it is only such areas I am prepared to research.
My first "why" brought me to the matter of motivation and it was there I think I found the answer. Those before us failed because they did not understand the motivation God had provided and consequently never made use of it. Those of my generation have failed for the same reason. We can do nothing to change the course of the past. It may be too late to do anything of consequence about the present. But we can pass on to our posterity something which may play a very vital role in shaping the course of the future.
I believe that Christianity requires a motivation which will eliminate fear of punishment and desire for reward to anything other than places of incidental importance. Self must be eliminated as a serious consideration. Strangely enough, we shall find that self attains its greatest fulfillment in its own self-denial. If paradoxes are not always true, at least this one is. Further, we shall find that as self, or egocentricity, moves out, it will leave in its wake a place where Christ may dwell. Do you wish a scriptural statement of my premise?
"I have been crucified with Christ; the life I now live is not my life, but the life which Christ lives in me; and my present bodily life is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and sacrificed himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, 21).
Such devotion is seldom seen in our time. It will never become commonplace in the absence of the motivation required to produce it. If we can discover and utilize the motivation the result will be automatic. It shall be my purpose to explore the realm of Christian motivation in subsequent studies. In such studies we may expect to understand "the divine attribute."