The Spring of Action

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     "What we are is utterly plain to God, and I hope to your conscience as well...At any rate there has been no selfish motive. The very spring of our actions is the love of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:11, 14).

     Not long ago, while walking down the street, I glanced at my watch and saw that it had stopped several hours before. When I took hold of the stem to wind it I noticed that there was no tension. I walked into the office of a nearby jeweler and he immediately confirmed my own diagnosis of the trouble. The mainspring was broken.

     Now a watch is like a human being in some respects. Both receive their motive power from within. It is an interesting fact that both have a face and two hands, but these would be immobile without the "works" on the interior. Man is a creature of motivation. He is subject to drives, desires and ambitions. Some of these are worthy, some are not. And because man is also a creature of will he can surrender to these or subjugate them.

     The Bible is the history of God's dealings with man, so it runs the whole gamut of behavioral patterns and the motivations for them.

     There was the case of the young woman who was seduced by a man in an upper social bracket while she was visiting some of her girl friends. Two of her brothers conspired together and murdered the young man and a number of others. They were driven by deep anger and wounded pride.

     There was the case of a man who wanted to engage in an inter-racial marriage and when thwarted by his prospective father-in-law, turned to the use of fire in an aggravated incidence of vandalism, which was motivated by revenge. His motto evidently was "Burn, baby, burn!"

     It was abject fear which caused a ruler to attempt genocide when he became concerned that there would be a slave uprising and a general revolt in time of war.

     Even a noble work such as proclaiming the gospel can be prosecuted by those whose motives are debased. Paul wrote from his prison cell, "I know that some are preaching Christ out of jealousy, in order to annoy me. But some are preaching him in good faith...The motive of the former is questionable--they preach in a partisan spirit, hoping to make my chains even more galling than they would otherwise be."

     It is refreshing to have the apostle declare that his own heart was an open book, plainly readable by God, and that

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there was no trace of selfishness in it. Every action which he performed grew out of the love of Christ. It is implied that this love and selfishness are antithetical, and this is correct.

     The very essence of the Way is that Jesus gave up everything, including the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. He was the great unselfish One. He stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. So, in this very connection, the apostle says, "Let Christ be your example as to what your attitude should be."

     If the love of Christ is the motivating force of life, that life will be different. Gone will be the pride, anger, revenge and fear which often drive men to drastic and unprincipled deeds. If one can cleanse his heart of such unworthy motives and allow the spring of action to be love, his whole existence will be transformed.

     John said, "It is true that no human being has ever had a direct vision of God. Yet if we love each other God does actually live within us, and his love grows in us toward perfection. And, as I wrote above, the guarantee of his living in us is the share of his own Spirit which he gives us."