Review and discussion of Hymns

Yesterday I had a great lunch with a good friend of mine. We were talking about worship, but I expressed my desire for deeper expression of what God has done for me, and is doing through me. I grew up in mostly conservative northern churches, where hymns are staple. I didn't think about it much growing up, but now I'm often drawn back to the lyrics of the hymns by Wesley, Luther, Newton, and so many others. Over the next month I'll be starting a stream looking at the messages, theology, and doctrine of the hymns.

All I want is happiness

Got this from a news story I ready this morning:

In tech beyond the big shows, an 18-year-old hacker calling himself GMZ admitted that he guessed the password of a Twitter administrator ("happiness") and hijacked high-profile Twitter accounts, including Obama's, Wired's Threat Level reported.

It's amazing what people's passwords can tell you about a person, we are all dreaming for some level of perfection, we are constantly striving for something better, even if it's just happiness. Where in the world do we get such a notion if we were just products of evolution. Common, my cat never dreams of having a bigger cat house. What is this 'thing' which drives us to always be looking for better, could it be that we were made in the image of God?

Just my thoughts...

How would your life change if you knew God didn't exist?

We are all confronted with a life of constant churn, trying to survive to the next day. Day after day I'm faced with moral challenges, dealing with things such as need, wants and desires. I'm confronted with an advertisement system which tells me "if it feels good, do it" but a struggle with a moral consequence to that action. I was taught that stealing, slander, cheating on my wife, murder, envy, not honoring my parents, and respectful speech of God is the moral standard set down by my Christian worldview. When I'm needing money, I don't rob a bank because of my moral standard.

Does a belief in God truly affect our moral decisions? According to The Pew forum on Religious and Public life 88% of Americans are sure or fairly sure that God exists. 57% of Americans feel that you need a belief in God to have a moral standard. The funny thing is the generational gap trend is showing that this is also a changing perspective. In the US 61% of the people over the age of 40 that were surveyed and only 51% of the people between the ages of 18-39 said there must be a belief in God to be moral. That means the trend is moving to a belief system which doesn't rest upon a higher moral authority.

In my last blog I talked about altruism, and how I don't believe that any human is selfless. I think that from the infant to the oldest of us, we are all selfish by nature. When we were born, we didn't desire the best for our parents, all we thought about was our needs: Food, warmth, and comfort. My argument is that if we are left to our natural desires, without some kind of external influence in our lives, we would have no moral standard. Even those who claim "there is no god", live under the shadow of His presence.

So lets just pretend we live in a world where God never existed, there never was a god. What would this world look like, how would it function, what would be the norms and morals of this society? What would the standard of human value be based upon? What is the worth of a person, merely what they are capable of producing? What would be the purpose of living?

Is Altruism real or a product of selfishness?

The term today is "pay it forward", the idea that you do something good for someone, not out of need but a desire that they in turn will do the right thing. I love the Liberty Mutual commercial which starts with one random act of kindness, observed by a third party, and then shared over and over again. Wikipedia says altruism is selfless concern for the wealfare of others, but is this true, do we as humans truly have a selfless concern for anything?
I often ask what is a persons motivation for doing something, is it fame, is it recognition, is it expecting something in return? If our volition, or motivation for doing anything has anything to do with our welfare in anyway, then I would claim it as being selfish and thus not altruism. I read a great article where a guy "payed it backwards". He even claimed his motivation was selfish, he wanted peace from a very unrest filled situation. My exploration is not into the question of "pay it forward", but rather into the motivation of a person who does that random act of kindness.
As many of you know, I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. Much of my motivation to do selfless acts has everything to do with my world view. I am motivated to help people selflessly, not to gain favor with God, but rather to demonstrate the selfless act of Jesus Christ. I often question my motivation for doing anything good, it's truly a struggle for me. Am I trying to gain God's favor, when I know from the Bible He loves me without condition of my actions. If I'm doing good, am I doing it to be more righteous, like the pharisees of Jesus day? The Pharisees would make sure everyone saw the good they did, and received praise. To this Jesus gave a great response, recorded in the book of Matthew 6:2-4

2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is a great passage to really reflect on as I think about how do I go about doing things that will help people. First I must do it in secret, I like this, because on many situations I've run into people who give money, and demand to be recognized for what they've done. They receive fame and honor from the action, and thus would be a reward in itself. Selfless acts must be done without any rewards. As a recipient of good will, I've often wondered what the motivation of someone who gave, are they looking down at me for not having as much. But when that item just appears it is a miracle, it has no cause and effect, it has no response, there is no reason for it. But now as a Christian, am I doing this for another reason... if you read the passage you will pick up on the motivation it gives: "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." I now push the question forward, is there such a thing as true Altruism?
I think there is only one example of true altruism, a true selfless act, which no logic can truly understand:
The Master Creator, the Author of time and Space, God. He created everything to His standard which was of course perfection, we call his perfection Holy. He created beings, to enjoy what he created, not because He was lonely, or He needed them, but truly wanted to share His creation. This would be the first major act of altruism. But something entered the world which caused his creation to become corrupted, it was anything but his design, a term we call sin, which means missing the mark, or less than perfection. We live in a world were sin is normal, it's expected, it's the way things are. I can't even imagine what the world was like in it's perfect state. As a creator, he had two options: He could of course start over, like a potter who smashes down his pot or a painter who re-primes the canvas. His second option would be to correct the wrongs, and resolve the offense. But the offense had a cost.
When I think of cost, I'm often drawn to our current economic situation, where the system of monetary balance is off-kilter. The banks who are overdrawn because of the corruption of itself, and greed of people misusing credit, are now going to be bailed out by the federal government, which represents taxpayers, which is about everyone. The cost isn't isolated, it effects everyone. So the cost of Sin is huge, it's not perfection. If a Holy God accepted any perfection, lets say he just ignores it, He is no longer Holy. For God, the logical thing would be to start over, but He didn't.. He stepped into time and space, and took on flesh, and became a man, the God Man, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, something impossible for all of us under the curse of sin. As a blameless perfect lamb, died on the cross, removing the curse of sin from those he loved. Not to gain their favor, because they have nothing to give, they we slaves, they were in debt to perfection. You see, that I believe is the second truly altruistic act ever committed on our planet.
What is your opinion of altruism, am I off the mark, please let me know.