Selling or telling?

Imagine you and a friend are discussing a plan to murder someone when a police officer walks up and says, “Excuse me, I overheard your conversation, and I’d like to encourage you to make a better decision. You see, murder is a very foolish endeavor, and you’d be much happier choosing differently.”

If this sounds ridiculous, it’s because a cop is not a salesman enticing you to pick between valid alternatives. He’s an authority figure. And regarding a plan to murder, his job (at the very least) would be to order you to stop it. In other words, he would command you, not invite you, to obey the law.

Similarly, whenever Christians talk to the world around us about morality, we usually have the good sense to know that we are justified in denouncing adultery or theft with all the authority of God behind us. Sure, we may reason with people, but this is a kindness, not an obligation. Yet sometimes it leads us to think of morality as some buffet choice among competing dishes.

But here’s the funny thing. What we know about morality, we seem to suddenly forget about the greatest moral obligation of all: having faith in God. And it makes me suddenly wonder just how much mischief has been done over the years by the notion that believing the Gospel is an offer God makes to humanity rather than a command He issues to us.