What Counts to God
Because Life is Too Short to Waste
From the sidelines, I listen with clenched jaw to the Bible battles that competing US Christian groups are constantly pitching against one another. If anyone is interested in pleasing God, many a brick-and-mortar or virtual church thinks it has the inside scoop. Each church’s inside track is usually another Biblical formula. And don’t worry, they can quote you the scriptures that back them up. I personally try to avoid getting sucked into the debate.
In the first century AD, those who wanted to please God had similar distractions. In St. Paul’s day, for example, the “Circumcision” group and the “Uncircumcision” group presented Torah-based alternatives with equal alacrity. St. Paul quelled the fiery exchange with a sharp retort:
“Neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision means anything [to God];
What counts [to God] is a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15 NIV)
1. Thankfully, circumcision/uncircumcision are no longer offered as competing formulas to please God, but we have our own formulas. If we were to insert some of our champions into St. Paul’s construct, they too might seem less compelling.
Take this table of competing formulas, for example. Or insert your own pair of competitors. Then insert the columns of each row into the following construct:
Neither __X__ nor __Not-X__ means anything; what counts is a new creation.
X, Not-X
Immersion baptism, Sprinkling/pouring baptism
Saturday Sabbath worship, Sunday Sabbath worship
High Church conformity, Congregational independence
Evangelical individualism, Liberationist socialism
Fundamentalist prudishness, Progressive permissiveness
Republican politics of the day, Democrat politics of the day
(insert your own pair)
2. If we are wanting to please God, struggling over these competing formulas wastes our time because they don’t mean anything to God. What counts to God is a “new creation,” which is to say, a changed person.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has gone; the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
3. In Galatians 5:19-21, St. Paul gives us a list of “old” behaviors that have “gone.” But this list is descriptive within the first century AD culture. We need an updated list of behaviors associated with the “sinful nature” of our Western European/American culture. I recommend we not focus on sexual relationships between consenting adults, illnesses (including mental illnesses and addictions), “witchcraft” and “orgies.” Instead, let’s try this list on for size:
Sexual assault, sex trafficking, objectifying members of any gender;
Scams, criminal enterprises, insider trading, theft, piracy, lying, deceit;
Paying tight-fisted wages, price-gouging;
Child abuse, child pornography, pedophilia;
Slavery (we still have it), domestic abuse, emotional abuse, abuse of power;
Racism, prejudice, misogyny, superiority, arrogance, divisiveness;
Greed, envy, jealousy, rage, vengeance.
4. Then, in Galatians 5:22-23, St. Paul also gives us a list of “new” behaviors that have “come” because of the power that God infuses into our lives. These are not personality traits. They are behaviors associated with how we treat others (including enemies), regardless of our personality.
Love: See 1 Corinthians 13.
Joy: Showing others gratitude.
Peace: Working to help others thrive (in so many ways) while accepting their efforts in reciprocity.
Patience: Allowing others to change in their own time.
Kindness: Treating others in a way that shows you care about them and their circumstances.
Goodness: Acting out of genuine concern, not some other motive.
Faithfulness: Not giving up on others or yourself.
Gentleness: Reacting in a way that others need not fear you’ll become violent in word or action.
Self-control: Behaving in a way that suits the circumstances, not the way you feel today.
Anyone who wants to please God can easily get distracted and lost in the noise of competing formulas offered by competing churches and individuals. But St. Paul has cut through all that noise by clarifying for us what pleases God. God is pleased when we change, replacing “old” behaviors, as those listed above, with “new” behaviors, new ways of treating others. Focus on changing, in coordination with God’s Spirit within. Because life is too short to waste on the empty stuff.