If we are “hard-wired” for God then what is the nature of true devotion
Ben Franklin is reported to have said to Thomas Paine once in an argument about the nature of humanity, “If man is this way with religion imagine what he would be like without it?”
There is a lot of wisdom in that statement even if the underlying assumption, that religion is a human created experience, is somewhat troublesome. Still, Ben Franklin seems to at least hold an appropriately cynical attitude about humanity’s ability to get things right. Historically this conversation happens right at the dawn of the Enlightenment. The later thinkers of the Enlightenment would accept the idea of the “inherent perfectability of human beings.” They believed that we could improve ourselves into perfection. This runs counter to the Christian idea that there is no perfection for people outside of the grace of God.
But I digress.
Calvin wrote that everyone agrees that without religion people are not much better than brutish animals. This is no longer true. Today there are many people who feel that everyone would be better off without religion and there are some who even question the value of faith. We will stick with Calvin’s point. Even though many people agree that religion is good for people, “there is a great difference in the way of declaring one’s religion.” In short, people demonstrate their love for God in different ways and the practice of their faith in different ways, too.
Some folks live as best they can to ensure that if God is real they will have a sufficient number of “gold stars” on their chart to make sure they still qualify for eternal life. This manner of devotion is less than full devotion because it isn’t motivated by love of God or relationship with God so much as a selfish desire to get by with just enough “goodness” to keep God off their back.
Those who approach God with the “earning their gold stars” approach really exhibit a great deal of courage in their own estimation of who God is and what it takes to make God happy. Calvin would say that they are really just worshipping a God that they have estimated on their own. They don’t respond to the revealed God but to a God that they can feel comfortable worshipping. Bottom line they are motivated out of fear to meet at least the minimum expectations to avoid God’s wrath.
True devotion is different. The person who really “gets” who God is doesn’t fear God’s judgment as a motivation to escape it, but rather fears God’s judgments because of the certainty that escape is impossible. The Apostle Paul puts it well in Romans: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Once we recognize that we are “sinners” and in need of grace and mercy we are prepared to devote ourselves to God with a pure motivation and zeal. We are then sinners who have experienced forgiveness and can love God because of the restraint and mercy shown to us and to others without our even having earned it. As though we could do such a thing at all!
As Calvin points out those who experience this God and this devotion seek to understand this God more and more and refuse to conceive of God in a way that is counter to the revelation God has given us through Jesus Christ and Holy Scripture.
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