Got a Plan?

John Locke is a man of faith. He believes that everything happens for a reason, and though he has his times of disbelief, he knows that fate and destiny will pull him through in the end. He believes in a greater purpose for himself and does quite a bit of soul searching in order to find that purpose. If you don't watch the tv series Lost then you probably either have no idea what I'm talking about or are wondering how in the world I know all of this about that old philosopher guy, or why I would even want to know. Locke is one of the characters who is sometimes almost annoyingly faithful. He's an out-of-the-box kind of guy, but he's always the one to say things that leave you thinking or wondering. In the first season, not too long after the plane initially crashed on the island, the survivors begin to realize that they are not the only ones on the island. And the people they find are not very welcoming. In fact, they kinda seem like they are out to get them. Of course when you have about 40 people coming from all different directions, thrown together on an island in the middle of nowhere, there are bound to be some feuds or disagreements. In the midst of one of these disputes, John Locke steps in and says that they will get nowhere while fighting like this. He says that there is an enemy out there and the more dispersed they become over these arguments, the easier it will be for the enemy to take over and the more difficult it will become for survival.

I believe that the same theory applies to our lives. Obviously we're not stranded on an island with unknown savages out to kill us, but similarly we are on earth away from Savior and there is an enemy out there waiting for our moments of weakness. Just how Locke was talking about, being dispersed is our greatest weakness and I believe it will be the one to fail us in the end. Sadly, I feel that religion is the one thing that pulls us apart the most. It should be the thing that brings us together, but instead it draws lines and builds up walls between us. From what I can tell, religion has been a topic of argument for pretty much all of mankind's existence. When Jesus was around roaming the earth, the Pharisees were the religious freaks of the time. While many of their beliefs may have been closely in line with what God wanted, they focused so greatly on the rules and forget where love comes into play. Instead of helping the helpless, they would turn away because they religious believes told them that would make them unclean. They condemned Jesus for associating with those who were considered of greater sin, but it was being with them that led more people to Christ in the end.

Knowing all the rules, and studying deeply into what the Bible tells us is a great thing. In fact, I think everyone should know what they believe, and stand by it firmly. But I have found that religion is the thing that pushes people away from Christianity the most. This is because it separates us from one another when we should be united. We claim to have this perfect life with Christ going for us, but we are only being hypocritical. We focus so much on following all the rules that we forget about love and helping those in need. We are not welcoming to those who are not like us, and we put off the impression that we think our lives are so much better than everyone Else's. Are religious believes are getting in the way of what's really at stake.

Earlier this year I read the book Blue Like Jazz. I really enjoyed this book because it made me think about my religion with being religious. In fact, the tag line for the book was "Non-religious thoughts on Christian Spirituality". At the beginning of the book Donald Miller says, "I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather to have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's heart into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God." And I think that's just it. Our religion drags us into habits that end up being a waste of our time. We have to pray before we go to bed, but if that prayer is forced does it really mean anything? We read the Bible regularly because well, that's what the Bible tells us to do. We stay away from people who we think are more sinful than us because we don't want to become corrupted. But if we're doing this all out of habit does it really mean anything? We need to pray and read our Bible out of desire. We need to do it because we can't make it through the day without it, not because it says to in the rule book.

Hebrews 10: 11 says, "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." The problem here was habit, the priest did these things because he had to, not because he wanted to. Not because he had this overwhelming desire to worship God. And it says that this got him nowhere, it did not even grant him the remission of sins. His religious duties were eating away at his heart until there was no desire left in him.

I believe that Satan has a battle plan, and I think a major part of that plan is Divide and Conquer. If he can get us broken up into little segments, he can take over each one. If he can get us arguing we will forget that we are arguing because of a God thing and it will turn into a Satan thing. He wants us to reject people. He wants us to tell people that they are not welcome in our church because they are homosexual or because they became pregnant outside of marriage or maybe just because they dress differently than us, listen to different music, or have a different background. He wants us to stay within our small little circle of Christian friends and not let the "others" in. He wants us to become so focused on religion that we forget about loving our neighbor, we forget about helping those in need, and we forget about our true Christian purpose. Why are giving our enemy what he wants so easily? Why are we supplying him with ammunition?

He doesn't want us to be a servant to those in need, so I've been thinking that maybe that's what I will do. I believe that if some people spent half the effort they do studying scripture details or trying to prove why their denomination is right, there would be a lot less people who die of hunger, or are left to sleep alone on the cold streets. I believe that if people like myself wouldn't waste so much time thinking about doing good things and actually do them, then there wouldn't be so many hurting people in this world. I think that God has blessed us with enough resources in this world to save every person who dies of hunger or hunger related illnesses. Unfortunately, the problem lies in the people and their unwillingness to get off their high horse and help the lowly.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world
-James 1:27

So just as Satan has a battle plan, so do I. Just as the character of John Locke has a purpose, so do I. My plan and purpose is love. And in this case love being a verb, an action word. I want to serve those in need rather than looking at it as a hopeless case. In my life, I'm in the process of decided what I want the rest of my life to be like, what I want to do with my time. I still don't know what my major in college will be or what job I want to have after college, but I do hope it will involve outreach and service. I want it to be love in action. Because that, I believe, is my purpose in live, it's my battle plan.

But if we are the body why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

~*Elizabeth