Sin

“Perhaps after death was nothing. But if there was something, then he couldn’t believe it had anything to do with the earthly things that the body had done except insofar as those things altered one’s soul, one’s state of consciousness.”
Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver

I can’t lead the life that Jesus lived, I am a sinner. But recently I've been challenged to have an attitude that is “the same as that of Christ Jesus”. And I mostly get why this is a good idea, but aren’t I just setting myself up for failure and how’s that going to make me feel: guilty and shameful. Even if I tried my absolute best, I’m still going to sin against God and my fellow human beings in thought, word, and deed. So what is the point?

The point is not - because I’ll be a better person or because it is the right thing to do or because it will help me get into heaven. But there must be some point, so then I wonder, what is my motivation? There are many theories about what motivates us humans. Recently, in Adam’s Curse, the author offers that there may be a genetic cause that affects our motivation, that our cells are actually manipulating us. Maslow, in his Theory of Human Motivation, states that “man is a perpetually wanting animal”. Wanting what: love, a sense of purpose, self-actualization? I think what we want is our God-given life that has been buried under the weight of the world. I believe that when I can somehow ignore what the world thinks is important and practice having an attitude that is “the same as that of Christ Jesus”, I may then, on very rare occasions, briefly understand what the point is. At least that’s my motivation.

Filed in: thoughts