{"id":2701,"date":"2007-06-28T01:30:21","date_gmt":"2007-06-28T06:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/"},"modified":"2007-06-28T01:30:21","modified_gmt":"2007-06-28T06:30:21","slug":"is-christianity-mercenary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Christianity Mercenary?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When Augustine said his heart was not at rest until it came to rest in God, was he simply saying that we are selfish and coming to God makes us happy? That we use God for our own ends? Is the reward system of the Bible \u2014 \u201cdo this and you will live\u201d \u2014 a mercenary system of doing things so we will get a prize at the end? Julie Clawson, over at Emerging Women<\/a>, weighed in recently on how educational systems frame learning with rewards and she calls that into question. This question \u2014 how moral is a reward system for morals? \u2014 is a question worth thinking about.
\nBrief note: I\u2019ve got a new \u201cdoo-hickey\u201d on the side called \u201cBlom Me\u201d It is an Instant Message kind of thing. I\u2019m not all that sure how it works, but if you sign up and we are on the computer at the same time, I think we can chat directly. I want to give this a chance.
\nAre you troubled by evangelism for the sake of a reward (heaven) or the elimination of a punishment (hell)? Are you bothered by motivating others by what they will get if they do what you say? Is this nothing more than warrants? How do we deal with the regular presence of reward\/punishment language in the Bible? What is our motivation? And, to be honest, how often can we realize what we think should be our motivation? Does the altruistic system \u2014 do what is right because it is right \u2014 depersonalize our behavior and turn into learning to live in the only real objective reality?
\nNow we get practical: How do we motivate others? Does a reward system of immediate results or less-than-final results create superficiality?
\nI stumbled upon Gilbert Meilaender\u2019s new book with a gorgeous evocative cover: The Way That Leads There<\/a><\/em>. His first chapter converses with Augustine the issue of desire and he virtually leads us through this discussion to a nice place \u2014 at least he does for me. I loved his first chapter. There are six chapters in this elegantly written and ruminating study of the Christian life. I\u2019m savoring it.
\n\u201cOn the face of it, then, our desire for God seems selfish\u201d (9). But, we are not to seek God for the sake of our own happiness for that makes ourselves the final end. And self-denial can be seen as the alternative, but self-denial is never an end in itself in the Bible and it too makes us the final end of our motivation. The biblical moral basis is neither mercenary nor disinterested altruism.
\nFor some finding God is about possessing God; for others it is about praising God; for others it is about the presence of God. Augustine, Meilaender argues, \u201cdoes not seek God in order that he may thereby live a happy life; he seeks God in order to delight in his presence\u201d (11). Perhaps this puts it all in pleasing perspective: \u201cThe point is not to have joy but to rest in God\u2019s presence, which will of course bring joy to one who loves God\u201d (12). \u201cWe can call this a loss of self (in the praise of God) or an expansion of self (as one flourishes in God)\u201d (12).
\nIs this an ethic of relational love?
\nHe critiques Luther for thinking he was thinking correctly in saying he wanted God\u2019s glory so much that he\u2019d go to hell if that meant glorifying God. Meilaender: \u201cTo renounce even desire for the vision of God,\u201d which is what Luther in effect was doing, \u201cis to renounce our creatureliness \u2014 which is the primal sin\u201d (22). Later: \u201cIt would be prideful self-sufficiency for one who is God\u2019s creature to repress the heart\u2019s desire for God\u201d (36).
\nI come to this reflection: Christianity is not in the end mercenary and it is not an ethic of disinterestedness. Instead, it is a relationship with God, it is delight in God that motivates. The reward is not the point; the reward is God and relation with God. Our motivation, if we are to hold our a reward, is to know God and to gaze at God in God\u2019s presence. Motivations of our behaviors with fellow Eikons, then, can be framed in the same way: It it is about delight in their presence, about relationship, about love.
\nAny thoughts?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Augustine said his heart was not at rest until it came to rest in God, was he simply saying that we are selfish and coming to God makes us happy? That we use God for our own ends? Is the reward system of the Bible \u2014 \u201cdo this and you will live\u201d \u2014 a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Christianity Mercenary?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Augustine said his heart was not at rest until it came to rest in God, was he simply saying that we are selfish and coming to God makes us happy?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Christianity Mercenary?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Augustine said his heart was not at rest until it came to rest in God, was he simply saying that we are selfish and coming to God makes us happy?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-06-28T06:30:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/\",\"name\":\"Is Christianity Mercenary?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-06-28T06:30:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-06-28T06:30:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"When Augustine said his heart was not at rest until it came to rest in God, was he simply saying that we are selfish and coming to God makes us happy?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/06\/28\/is-christianity-mercenary\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Christianity Mercenary?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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