A reason why I might have joined cult or a gang, I suspect,
is if someone or some group had taken an interest in me in a way that nobody
has before. It's like somehow being famous or relevant. To be relevant is an
addictive and intoxicating feeling in any capacity. I imagine parents get a
similar satisfaction from the fact that their children desperately need them to
live. You can see it in co-dependent relationships where people are made to
feel relevant because their partner desires them. Getting a job because you are
relevant for the position.. etc, you get the point.
There's an element of validation-worship going in in this
transaction. Does the celebrity worship the fans or do the fans worship the
celebrity? I think the answer is that they are co-dependent. Same with parents
and kids: kids need parents to live and parents need kids for relevance.
As a Christian I effectively rely on God for my own
relevance. This a curious source of relevance because unlike fans or children
or a lover etc the source of relevance is known only by faith.
I have faith in the character of God. I didn't invent God
nor did I invent forgiveness so I am not the architect of my own relevance. I
don't simply believe in myself. I believe: in the one who believes in me; in He
who somehow wrote messages and had it passed along for thousands of years to
reach me.
It's like the scene in movie Back to the Future when the
Doctor leaves a message to be delivered to Marty 150 years in the future;
except this message has been travelling 2000 years and to me!
Furthermore God requires me to love my neighbour. There is
no part of His message in which I am to kill anybody - ever - under any
circumstances. Jesus said love, i.e., empathise with and forgive your enemy.
Jesus' message is not convenient for me and it serves my enemy. He led by
example and prayed for the wellbeing of His killers, while they were killing
Him.
This isn't about appealing to my desire to be relevant,
that's just a byproduct of His glory.
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