How do we live a full life? What is that manner of life which leaves the world a better place?
My answer to these two questions is based on two fundamental beliefs:
- Character matters
- God becomes incarnate in human lives
Neither of these beliefs is unusual or controversial; and many people I know hold both beliefs simultaneously without any feelings of hypocrisy. But there is a way to combine these two beliefs that leads to a conclusion that is rarely acknowledged. When that conclusion is taken seriously it leads to a helpful new way to think and talk about God and God’s work in our world. Inviting you to experiment with this way of thinking, making a paradigm shift, is what this blog is all about.
So here are the two beliefs, in summary form.
Character matters:
- means matter more than ends
- honesty is more important than promoting or defending the truth of any system of belief
- non-violence, loving enemies and working for reconciliation always take precedence over fighting for peace
- how you live your life matters more than success in accomplishing your plans
- character plays itself out in the real world, in the world of matter
God becomes incarnate in human lives:
This belief comes from personal experience of change in my desires and in my character, combined with observation of that change in others. I have interpreted this change through the experience of others as recorded in the Bible. Two of my favorite expressions of this come from Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (2:20). And, “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith and self-control” (5:22-23). And, of course, there is the wondrous example of God’s incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. In many and various ways God lives God’s life in our human, earthly lives.
Given these two beliefs, here is the way I am combining them: If God becomes incarnate in us, and if what matters is our character, then what matters about God’s work in the world is God’s character. It is more important for us to get to know how God works in our world than to know God’s ends. When thinking and talking about God it is more accurate and helpful to talk about God’s desires and character, than about God’s intentions or designs or plans. This conclusion in three words: God’s character matters.
In my reading last week I ran across one instance where these two beliefs were combined to lead to this conclusion. In a collection of Sermons, Horaces Bushnell wrote this concerning the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
That eternal goodness should forsake goodness in suffering, and even to make it suffer, in a way of gaining ulterior ends or advantages however merciful, is to pawn the eternal chastities of character for ends of beneficence; which, as certainly as God is God, will never be done.
Bushnell’s conclusion: God never sacrifices God’s character for ends, no matter how good.
Elsewhere in his sermons and other writings, Bushnell regularly falls back into talking about God in terms of design without concern for character. That is normal. We have a habit of thinking about God first in terms of design. Even so, I invite you to experiment with thinking about God in terms of desire and character instead of first applying a paradigm of intentions, designs and plans. Give it a try.
