Wired for Accomplishment
Andy's Posts, Contemplations, God's Word - September 6th, 2005 Add commentsI think sometimes the reason the Christian walk can be / seem so difficult for many, is because of our natural inclination to accomplish things, compared to simply being within a discipline.
We make to-do lists, so that we can check them off.
We make money, so we can reach or accomplish financial goals.
We work in school, to accomplish the goal of a degree.
Our ideals revolve around “completion” - the idea that with enough effort and work, we can “accomplish” that goal. It makes us feel good. Like we’ve “done” something. We can sit back and say, “you know what, that really paid off.”
Despite the fact we’re wired for such an inclination - the Christian walk (in some aspects) is the one “un-accomplishable.”
I speak in regards to imitating Christ. We can strive for the perfect life of Christ, as we are to do - to live as He did, in all we say and do. To love Him through our lives. But our humanity holds us back thanks to it’s corruption, and our sinful nature. We can never, of our own effort or attempt, meet that “goal” - or “accomplish” such a task.
In fact, the scriptures even speak of our chance for perfection…” If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn. 1:8)
So how do we accomplish the un-accomplishable? How do we find a moment’s rest…? How do we sit back and smile, and utter words of joy in the completion of our task?
I wanted to take a look at this concept, of “goals” - that which can be accomplished - and see what scripture said about it. The Apostle Paul actually does speaks of “goals” when speaking of the Christian walk.
2 Corinthians 5:9 reads:
“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. “
Phillipians 3:14 reads:
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
What is such a goal, and shouldn’t goals be accomplish-able? I think Paul compares the Christian walk to the training and work and striving of an athelete for that very reason - because we are WIRED to desire accomplishment, WIRED to “win” or reach a “goal” - just as atheletes train to win first place, we too are to strive physcially and spiritually to reach that goal. The goal is to what…? PLEASE Christ, as 2nd Corinthians read above. But how?
In Galations, Paul chastens them:
“Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”
Apart from the spirit of God, we cannot accomplish our goal. Just as the people Paul is speaking to above could not recieve the Spirit itself by following the law, they could not accomplish the goal by fullfilling or following the law. Human effort fails in it’s attempts to reach the goal. To please Christ, to strive towards the goal, one must submit to Him first, not try and win by human effort alone.
Does this mean every week we strive towards the goal, we’ll have a list we can check off or a certificate awarded to us? No…our worldly standards for completion and accomplishment are not the same as God’s - and so we much seek the Spirit of God to grant us the peace that comes from the knowledge of God. Only the Spirit can place upon our hearts the peace that we seek - no checklist or award shall meet it.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:54 am
Another weakness of our society: Once we attain these goals, we tend to throw the accomplishment aside and hastily move onto the next challenge. And this is what is so amazing about our God. Since we can never “accomplish” the goal of our walk with Christ (as long as we are on this earth) we will always gain a stronger desire to reach it. The more we strive, the more passionate we become.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:54 am
I like what you said about this. But words of joy can be uttered at any time. You dont have to have feelings of accomplishment to praise God for his many blessings and revelations. take Paul for instance, he never felt more dependant or reliant on God then when he was in the most dire of circumstances. When he was weak, that was when we was strong because he knew God was with him. Also i feel the goal Paul spoke of in Phillipians was not one of his own personal salvation. His purpose was to spread the message, his goal could effectivly have been to simply share with everyone alive the good news of Christ. I’m a firm believer that we aren’t saved to be saved, but we’re saved to serve. At least thats the impression i get from Paul in regards to his goal. I think the prize he speaks of isn’t his own, but God’s prize. With salvation comes great opportunity for boldness. At least thats what i gather. Like Bri said, we generally accomplish a goal and move on to the next, but at least for me i feel that the goal you describe in your blog is one of salvation. we’re given that at the outset of our walk. Its funny because this salvation we recieve is imputed to us by God. generally when you set goals you have to work to achieve them. the idea of being imputed means we are paid that which we did not(and in our case) cannot earn. i dont know much but i know this: i’m born again in Christ, being so makes me dead to sin, and it empowers me to invite others to be the same. all else seems to be pointless worries and cares. i think Jesus put it best: the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and the second liken it, love your neighbor as yourself. (as best as i can remember i dont have a bible accessible right now).
February 21st, 2007 at 7:55 am
I certainly didn’t mean that the goal speaking of there was salvation, in fact the verse quoted is “So we make it our goal to please him” - not “Salvation”
We press on towards the goal of pleasing our creator, which as you said resides in the two most important, all encompassing commandments - Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, and strength - and Love your neighbor as yourself.
The reason these two commandments are so important is they encompass EVERYTHING about our purpose. You take the rest of them, and they fit under “OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD” or “OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PEOPLE” -
Our “Goal” is to please Christ, by glorifying him, conforming to his image, and making disciples of Christ.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:55 am
i do agree with our goal being to please Christ, i guess i just dont much like the word. generally you aren’t successful in trying to reach your goal until you actually reach it, but we please Christ all the time by our conforming. granted we have moments of weakness but i think that if we have it in our minds that pleasing Christ is a goal, we may feel our efforts to conform into his likeness may be underscored until we actually reach that supposed goal. i just dont much care for the word goal in our walk; i think for some it may be a stumbling block. we should take joy in being invited to be like Christ. it is hard work, but the reward is the walk itself. if we weren’t evil by nature we wouldn’t be able to see just how good our God is. part of failure is a process of humbling. once we have that wisdom, we can relish in our successes and perseverance with a mature spirit. i just really dont like the word goal i guess. hehe.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:55 am
I agree that for many the Christian walk can be very difficult, and a lot of it probably has to do with the accomplishment aspect. I also agree that we must seek the Spirit of God for our peace. This “seeking” could be much less difficult if we could go through life with the constant awareness that the Holy Spirit is not so much to be sought as to be found, alive and residing in me and every other born again believer. When we are able to live in the present, minute-by-minute, with this realization, the cares, problems, and “goals” of this world are taken care of. I think the “goal” of pleasing him that you speak of can be accomplished be being available to His still small voice, which is alive and speaking to us constantly if we will only listen, and submitting to Him in all things, while giving up any personal goals we may have. The past is gone, the future not yet here, all we have is the present. We can please Him by being “presently” aware of and available to Him in all we do .
February 21st, 2007 at 7:56 am
I think that’s really the point.
And I understand (kinda the point of the post) that it’s hard to deal with the word “goal”
BUT, it’s dealt with here not as my word, but Paul’s himself! Clearly there must be a way to reconcile that word with truth, and I think that the above is the point, to strive towards the goal - always pushing on JUST AS an athelete does - that’s why we see the comparison. Part of it is about effort…
February 21st, 2007 at 7:56 am
I think we are basically on the same page. Good post.