The bitterness of obligation driven Christianity
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3
The wrong message
One of the most heartbreaking and stifling beliefs is obligation driven Christianity. Take a new convert, full of joy and delight in the truth of God, and teach him that he must obey to earn God’s love, and you will have a bitter convert. This sting is very often shown in rejection. The message of Christ is good news because it is the gracious, loving rescue plan of God. It is a message about hopeless and helpless humanity and the all powerful God who delights in saving sinners through the death and resurrection of his son. There is great joy in that glorious message. If you alter it in the slightest, it will certainly become bitter. Let me give you an example. I once sat in a coffee shop and began a conversation about Christianity with the barista. In the course of the conversation I invited the individual to my church. He told me he had given up on church because of the message he heard. Part of me expected to hear how he disagreed with his being a sinner, or that Jesus could save, or that a loving God would send him to hell–he said none of those things. Instead, told me how he had despaired of church because of an obligation driven message. Now, he did not put it that way. What he did say, in short, was, “they keep telling me to do things to earn God’s favor.” There is only one type of person that message appeals to, the self-righteous. (Click here to see the folly of self-righteousness)
The right message
The true message is simply and gloriously captured in 1 John 5:3. God tells us that obligation is not the linch pin to obedience, rather, it is love. Love is by nature a completely different motivation. It does not serve because it fears punishment. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1Jn. 4:18). Love serves because it delights in the one being served. That is why John can teach that Christ’s commandments are not burdensome. It is not so much that self-denial that leads to obedience is pleasant in and of itself. It is pleasant and joyful because of the one to whom we turn. Self-denial requires turning to someone or something else. Christian self-denial by definition turns to Christ, and Christ is the fount of joy. “In your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Oh, that I would display this message with my life and teaching, and may the church spur each other on to this gracious and glorious truth. It is not an overstatement to say that the clear truthful proclamation of the gospel hangs on it.
