To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

Jim,

As you can see below my dad emailed Matt and me about your recent blog posts on work and men as providers. I decided to read the posts at lunch today, and I was really impressed by your comments. I can also understand why they were challenging for some of the men who read them. A crucial point in your earlier post is that "the preponderance of scriptural teaching is focused on WHO we are as husbands, fathers, elders, etc. (rather) than on WHAT we do." This ties in with a crucial point in your later post, "The goal of work in God's eyes is never to provide, but to be where He wants me, and to do what He wants me to do." I am much in agreement with what you say here and with how you talk about Matt. 6:25-34 and your comments on work in the life of Apostle Paul.

I would add that I also tend to think here about the life of King Saul and his actions and work which led up to his rejection by God. Saul wanted to work hard for the people and their approval rather than listening to God (and here I am thinking about your comments on "listening.") Of course, the famous line most often remembered about this story is the rebuke of 1 Samuel 15:22, "To obey is better than sacrifice." But I think most men, and I certainly include myself in this, have a hard time getting this one through our heads. We rely on working hard, and yes, we like to say that it is related to providing for our families, and yes, this is correct in a number of important ways, but...in truth, we often find it easier to deal with the familiar struggle and futility of our daily efforts than wait upon a God who wants to be kind to us beyond our work. Grace frustrates us even as it undoes the curse of Gen. 3:17-19 (which is a curse on our work!). And the riches of God's kindness in grace never finally leads us to laziness but to repentance (Rom. 2:4) and obedience to God which ultimately (re)forms our work for Him.

Of course, you made many of these points very well in what you wrote, but I think you have also made them through your own difficult struggles to follow after God over these last several years. I know less of the details about this than my father and Matt, but I do know that your have made some tough decisions so that you can embrace God's calling for you and move to a place where you and your family might have a chance to flourish. Moving out in faith like that hardly requires less work, but it does demand that one not put their faith in work and that is something that a lot of us just aren't willing to risk. I hope I will remember your words--God is focused on WHO we are--and your example as I think about struggles with work in my own life.

Andy