The Duty That Lies Nearest

I’ve read most of the essays on the Godquest site…some of them several times. Recently, I’ve printed some of them off and taken them to the gym with me to read while treadmilling or incumbent biking….even stair stepping (although that is a bit trickier) They have all made an impact on my spiritual beliefs and my spiritual walk. That is the case with the essay, “How Then Shall We Live?”

So many times I’ve wondered what being a Christian looks like. We are to emulate Jesus, no? Isn’t that impossible unless we are living out of the spirit within each of us? Of mine own self I can do nothing? Yep. If we are living out of the egoic mindset, for the most part, mankind reeks of total depravity.

When I was going to the PCA church in Nashville…having those five points of Calvinism drummed into me….I was repulsed by the total depravity doctrine. Now I see shades of truth in it. I guess it could be considered a veiled understanding of living out of the egoic mindset.

Pastor Richard (one of my favorite people ever) used to say that any good we did of our own selves (ego) was ultimately for selfish motives. If you peeled back the layers (like an onion) at the core, our motivation would be selfishness. Hmmmmm. Perhaps. If we allow the egoic mind (carnal/adamic man, flesh) to rule us, then yes, I suppose most good acts have their root in selfishness.

Yet, do we just do nothing until we get our act together and live out of the spirit? And won’t there be an overlap where we live out of both mindsets…going back and forth between the carnal and the spiritual? So how do we live in the meantime?

Another favorite pastor of mine from yesteryear, Vernon…an eccentric, outspoken Texan…elderly. He impacted my Christian walk quite a bit. I was not a believer when I started to go to his church but while I attended there some really powerful things happened in my spiritual life. It was while attending his dinky little start up church that I became a Christian. In part due to his influence. He baptized me and the kids. But anyway, I digress.

He used to say that when you didn’t feel like a Christian (as in have Christian feelings and emotions….forgiveness, generosity etc) to act the way a Christian should and eventually the feelings would catch up to the actions. I’m not sure how that fits with all this new understanding I’ve been coming into, but it impacted me then and I suspect, at least in part, it holds a truth for me now. I think the following excerpt from the essay on Godquest somehow fits with all this….and it is very good advice for anyone.

But when we are able to hear God’s voice, what will God say to us? I believe God gives every person, eventually, the ability to live in two beautifully simple ways. He gives us all the ability to be faithful to the highest that we know; and, the ability to “do the duty that lies nearest” (Carlyle) as his Spirit reveals to us individually, simple opportunities to obey him in love.

God has given everyone a “measure of faith.” Some people apparently have more than others. Are we faithful to the highest we know? Are we willing to do the duty that lies nearest—in the “now”? God is faithful to speak to each of us in these ways as we “image” God within us with a sense of His acceptance, love and kindness for us.

Being faithful to the highest we know is to know Him! This is Eternal Life; that is, to know of God’s nature, and to let Him imbue us with it. It is a state of heart that is able to enjoy the quality of eternal life right now. After all, all we have is “now” and eternal life can be enjoyed in the present. It finds its expression in obedience: doing the duty that lies nearest. This could involve writing a letter we have had intentions of writing, a phone call we’ve been meaning to make, forgiving a person who needs our forgiveness. God is faithful to continually prompt within us “duties” that we may in turn commit as love-offerings to Him. But this requires holy imagination—the ability to see God as he is. No one who has seen God for who He is, can live; that is, live in ones former ways of selfishness and fear.

In Ephesians scripture tells us:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. NIV

God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. NCV

His, in fact we are - his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus upon a footing of good works, which God prepared beforehand, that, therein, we might walk. Emph.