Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Okay, let's get real: you can concentrate all the time on what you are to do and never understand the nature of what you are, that is, your essence, or your being (or spirit), and what makes you capable of doing what you do or do not do....what makes you tick. But our ability to enjoy and sense the realness of "life" is internalized in our existence or our "being", ISTM. That enjoyment and realness can never be reached by concentrating only on our "doing" all the time....and that notion seems to be replete throughout the Bible, that is knowing our natures, for example how really corrupt we can be...like spots on a leopard, etc......besides just demanding we strive to meet a perfect standard all the time...

But frankly, the interest in the best "health" of our being was at the heart of God always, ISTM, to maximize the joy of our lives...we are "human beings" to begin with, but we are also spiritual beings...and that spirit can take us down if we do not have a concern for its health......so, for example, what does it mean to know who we are in Christ? How valuable is that in the final analysis? Paul spoke extensively of that and ISTM that such an inquiry is at the heart of it all.....not just the five steps, etc. It not only precedes that five steps, but it is something that must be dealt with everyday of our lives.....and it is something that is grasped in our spirits....it is seeking the joy of the Spirit (true joy being found spiritually, not just from patting oneself on the back for doing something just right all the time).....

Anyway, to get to my point: it just seems that God is very concerned with us knowing who we are, that is, what we are "capable" of "doing" or "not doing" and why and not just purely concentrated on what we do.....However, the CofC seems to subscribe to a a "doing" perspective of God to attain joy....so the recognition of what we are "capable" or "incapable" of doing and why or why not becomes really quite irrelevant.....resulting in those like many of us here ultimately saying, "why are we doing this?"......and sadly resulting in some significant anxiety, grounded perhaps in a disconnection from our own spirits wherein the source of joy resides....

Seems from cover to cover it is about doing the things of God.

Building the Arc
Abraham had places to go and things to do
Moses didn't thing he could really do the things God was calling him to do
David was happy when it was time to go to the house of the Lord
Apostle Paul/Saul was chosen to go to Gentiles and Kings and would be shown how much he had to suffer

Such that Paul says he can do all things through Christ who gives strength. And that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

So yes it is about talent and reaching potential...but reaching potential in order to do things seems to be the point IMO.

soladude

I agree. Some hardline CoC folks seem to be hung up on "five steps" to the point that they don't seem to understand what relationship with God is all about. They don't know themselves to be the beloved children of God. They feel like they are living on the edge of being thrown out of God's family circle. Even when they understood the graciousness of God toward themselves, some are still unwilling to extend the same graciousness to others. They still persist in thinking that if a person has an honest heart, then they will understand once its explained to them that the "five steps" are what God desires of us. The result is, they continue to focus on doing "the five steps" rather than on the deep love of God for his children.

I am not sure that I would call it being versus doing. I think from the ancient Hebrews' perspective knowing who we are (God's beloved children) results in our commitment to following God's leading.

Yes, that would make a lot of sense....I think the "doing" perspective evinces the manifestation of the obligation/duty to "do" the five steps and as you said, circumvents or misses the raison d'etre, i.e., the generating impetus of God's love for us, his children....to enter a relationship with Him....not to begin an obedience olympics to prove ourselves....Christ has done all the necessary "proving" in our stead....that being the whole point ISTM....