God Doesn’t Need Us; We Need Him

Many people think that we are doing God a “favor” by reading a religious text, doing good things, going to religious services, etc. It’s a box to check off.

It’s one of the top reasons why some people are very casually religious. They may want to be “religious enough to go to Heaven”. They may think that you need to be religious to go to Heaven, or they may be seeking to “prove” the validity of their conversion experience of being “born again” after praying a prayer of salvation.

It’s also one of the top reasons why some people who believe in God delay becoming religious. They plan to do it right before they die, in order to experience the “freedom” from “the shackles of religion” for most of their life.

In reality, that’s backwards thinking that can be harmful to us, reducing the possibility of us reaping the rewards of what these things are meant for: our own good. In reality, “freedom” apart from God is in a state of bondage that only God can help to set someone free from.

“I know a great illustration of this point… A gorilla sits down at a piano. He experiences “freedom,” complete autonomy. He can strike any note in any order he likes, but his autonomy ensures he will make no music. Yet a concert pianist, bound by years of discipline and the limitations of a score, is wondrously free to make the most glorious music. The world likes gorilla-freedom, but the law of Christ sets us free to make life-music (Duane Litfin 16 of 38 from Spring 2003 Wheaton College magazine).”