Have you heard this at church before? "You need to spend time with God, in His Word, everyday!" It's probable that you have. It's also probable that you responded with enthusiasm, thinking, "What a great idea! I'd love to do that." So you start your alarm clock, and set aside one half hour at the pastor's suggestion. For the first few days it's really fun and it gives you a good feeling. But after a while your enthusiasm begins to dim, but you keep going, because you figure "it's just the right thing to do." So you keep it up, but now it's becoming a chore. Pretty soon, to use the old saying, "you'd rather be fishing," or texting, or doing chores, or something. But you fight these feelings because you "know that you really should be doing this", and you feel bad that you have those thoughts.
Do you see the problem? It's a familiar one, which we all get into at one point or another. It's called "obligatory Christianity". "Obligatory Christianity" is basically anything we do "for God" because we think "it's just the right thing to do. Allow me to explain. If you do something for a sibling, or parent, or relative, you do it because you love them.
Well the fact of the matter is that God is the same way. The Bible refers to God as our Father multiple times.
1 Chronicles 29:10, shows us just one example.
"Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said:
“Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.'" (NKJV, emphasis added)
Paul says the same thing in Romans 1:7. "To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (NKJV, emphasis added)
James mentions it in James 3:9 when speaking about taming our tongue:
"With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God." (NKJV, emphasis added)
God says He will wipe tears from our eyes in Isaiah 25:8:
"He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken." (NKJV)
How weird would it be if we were hanging out with our dads, and we set an alarm clock and as soon as it rang, sped out of there with the utmost speed? Yet I submit that each of us does that to God sometimes. We're so concerned with good ideas, and "Living a Godly life", that we forget why we do what we do, and we become religious. Then we start "serving" only because we feel obligated to.
There is nothing wrong with serving God, and trying to honor Him. Yet when we turn the things God gives us the opportunity to do chores, what sort of good are we doing? God is our Father, not a law officer ready to whack us when we step out of line. God is not a nitpicker. If He was, we'd already be dead. God is our Father who loves us more than anything. We need to realize that and treat Him as such. When we spend time in His Word, we need to realize that it's a privilege, and be glad that we can serve Him by spending time with Him. He has us on His mind, even when He is not on ours. Jesus does not want us to serve Him because we have to. He wants a relationship. That's what He died for.
Now at this point, you may be thinking, "This is discouraging. I've been living "obligatory Christianity". Don't be too brought down. You are not the only one. In fact, an entire church once did the same thing. It was noticeable enough for the apostle Paul to write them. He writes:
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the
Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:1-6 NIV 1984)
God does not want your actions, He wants your heart, and then to see your actions motivated by His work in you. He wants you to live in freedom, not rigmarole bondage. There was a Mosaic Law to follow to the letter before Jesus came, but that was when God lived among man, not in man. The freedom He provides means freedom from an obligatory Christianity. Jesus did not die so you would have to schedule Him into your day. He loves you so passionately that He looks forward to being with you more than you look forward to being with Him. We've been freed from having to do this, that, and the other. So live in that freedom! You don't have to "give" just a half hour. It can be more, or less! Spend time with God until you feel ready to move on! Walking with God is just not that complicated. The same principle is applicable to our whole walk. It's true that God wants our whole being, but he loves a cheerful giver.
If you've been living an obligatory Christianity, it's something you can fix. Just change course. Ask God for forgiveness for living this way. Now live in the freedom He gives you. You have the Holy Spirit in you. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 puts it well.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with
ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (NIV 1984)
Jesus loves you as you are, and loves you too much to let you stay that way. So just live in the freedom he gives. No more "obligatory Christianity!
