I was talking to a friend of mine recently and we were discussing the differences between philosophy of work between the U.S. And Europe. She said Europeans know how to relax a bit better than Americans. They work to live and we live to work. Usually I'm wary of generalizations such as this. I know for myself though, that my intense desire to accomplish sometimes causes me to lose focus on what I'm living for. This whole “work” discussion got me thinking......I wonder if it is our “work-oriented” mindset that leads us to what I believe is the most common misconception about Christianity: that we can somehow work our way to heaven and that our acceptability before God is based on how well we perform for him. I've found from my studies of the Bible that this is not the case. Christianity is not about religion or just being good. It's about a person, Jesus Christ, and our response to him. We don't come to him because we've “worked a lot” and are now good. We come to him because we know we're not good and that we desperately need him.
My favorite verses from the Bible are Ephesians 2:8&9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Our coming to Christ is all about what God has done. Our job is simply to accept this fact and then live a life of faith out of that. Living a life of faith will produce what we'd call good works (see verse 10 of Ephesians 2), but those works are not the basis on which God accepts us.
Let me leave you with one last thought. I'm currently working on memorizing Psalm 51:17 (Feel free to test me if you see me!): “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Wow! What God desires are not my hollow religious acts, but my whole self, fully relying on Him and humbly acknowledging my need for him.
Hey....a lot of what I've talked about is actually in the song, “All About You.” Give it a listen when you get a chance and let me know what you think!