sevenzedek
Puritan Board Junior
If possible, please explain a little more. So how do I do this in worship? In prayer? Without running into "using God" or is that good? Because we truly ARE dependent upon God. I'm afraid it might lean towards people only wanting God for His benefits and not Him. How can I use this to have patience with my mother? With loving others?Sevenzedek said:The problem I see with using gratitude as a motive is that it can create a debtor's ethic in our hearts that undercuts God's glory. It is a dishonor to God to presume to 'pay him back.' I believe a better response that honors him is not one that says, 'you have done this for me; now I DO this FOR you,' but one that says, 'YOU have done this for me; I enjoy you; give me more of you.' There is a subtle difference, but seeing such subtleties exposes the plots of that subtle serpent whose method is to conquer the toe before the foot and leg.
Suppose I bought my wife some flowers on the way home from work one day. Now suppose several responses. Which would honor me more? That she give me money for the flowers? That she make me dinner precisely because I bought her flowers? That she obey me in some matter while she says to me, "Because you bought me flowers, now I will do this"? We see what is wrong in this illustration without expounding it. Now suppose she hugs me and kisses me because she is happy to be the object of my affection.
The bible commands gratitude, but I think it is wrong when we turn it into a motive for obedience to God. Gratitude is a fitting response when we are receiving good from God because it honors he who is the giver. It is misused, however, when we make it the reason for doing the obedience already owed him. The only way that we can honor a God who already owns everything is not to give him anything but to ask for more of him (What I also mean to imply in this statement is that we desire his gifts because of what they show us about our God—the whole earth is full of his glory and we desire that which we desire for his name' sake).
In the light of all this, what do I think is a better motive for obeying God? I believe there is more than one motive that is biblical. All of them are for God's glory.
One way that we could honor God in our obedience is to imitate Jesus. Do it for the promises of God.
Hebrews 12:2
...Jesus... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...
Another biblical motive for obedience is that it boasts in the greatness of God.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
There are others.
Still, there will likely be others who will not agree that it is wrong to use gratitude as a motive. Is it possible to confuse the prospect of joy in God with gratitude toward him? It is difficult to make abstract distinctions. Perhaps I am making the wrong ones. However, what do we do with the scenario in which I give flowers to my wife? This is the error I am arguing against, whatever distinctions may be exacted from my subsequent statements.
Without running into "using God" or is that good?
Desire the good and perfect gift because of what it communicates about him. If this is seen as "using God," then let it be seen as using him for the end for which he gives himself to us—that he be glorified and enjoyed forever.
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