Doing Whatsoever

Although my neglected blog doesn't reflect it, I actually have been doing a lot of thinking lately. I've actually been working on this post for quite some time now, trying to flesh out some things, get some of the language right. It speaks of the issue that has been central to, and the most convicting of, my recent thinking: The matter of two commands found in the Scriptures and how we as Christians are to obey them.

I've really been feeling the weight of my own neglect of the Christian mission lately. It's almost a product of a willful, blissful ignorance on my part about the implications of how we, as Christian, are told to live. Specifically, loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. See, loving our neighbor, who may be a friend, a relative, a complete stranger next door or a starving child on the other side of the world, should be the defining aspect of all that we do as Christians, for it is inseparable from the command to love God: We can not love our neighbor without first loving God, and we do not love God if we don't love our neighbor (1 John 4:20). Christ Himself tells us that these are the two greatest commandments and that all that is contained in the Law and the Prophets depend on them (Matt 22:36-40). It is only when we realize that loving our neighbor is inseparable from loving God that we can rightly enter into the discussion of what the life of the Christian should look like; for this realization changes the question from, "How do I glorify God in what I'm doing?" to, "Does what I'm doing glorify God?" If we strive to do all that we do to the glory of God, to show or demonstrate our love to and for Him, then everything, everything we do should be an act of loving our neighbor. And not an act that I think is loving, but what the very word of God defines as loving. Not only are the commands to love God and love our neighbor inseparable from each other, but they are inseparable from the Scriptures (Matt 22:40). The command of "Whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God," (I Cor 10:31) does not necessarily imply that everything we do can be done to God's glory, rather it tells us we should only be putting our hands to those things by which, and through which He is glorified.

This is a conversation that I long to be a part of; I really think it has vast implications on our Christianity. I can't help but think that so many of our "ministry opportunities" and initiatives accomplish not much more than satiating the consciences of the ministers rather than actually meeting the needs of those ministered to. I think the way we evangelize, and even how we define the gospel itself, is affected by this. And not just ministries, but our very conduct. How much of our daily lives, the way we live, is structured around our comfort rather than putting God and our neighbor first? Even our corporate living, our Christian community is affected. How much of our worship is formed by personal preference over Scriptural command? How often do we justify the breaking of the Sabbath? Why do we not interact with the majority of our congregation between Monday and Saturday? And, knowing how I would react to those last few questions, how often do we examine our practices to make sure they bear up under the Word?

This is where I'm at, and this is where I'm desirous of others' input: That Christ Himself affirms the inseparable relationship between loving God and loving neighbor and declares them to be the greatest commandments and the summary of everything He is, and all He has done, must cause dramatic change in, and must produce drastic action from the people that follow Him. This is the calling that we as Christians have been saved unto. Are we walking worthily (Eph 4:1, Phil 1:27, 1 Thess 2:12)? If not, where did we go wrong, and how do we go about making it right?