The God of Judah (3)

Don't Care

What does it mean to become a Christian? It takes a great deal of depth and an even greater deal of abandonment to attain that attitude of don't-care-ness. All is well, we have a lot of capacity, room and even liking for words like that because it creates momentary sense of righteousness and nobility. I don't care about what other people think, I don't care about my own needs, I don't care about my future, I don't care about my inconvenience, I don't care... ... Basically what I am trying to say is this- I am serving the Lord, don't obstruct me. Stop telling me the contrary; get thee behind me satan!
I am like that. Yet, in the bible twice, David mentioned about not wanting to give to God that which cost him nothing. If the attitude is one that did not care, how would it cost him anything? Recall yourself walking past those flag day people, how often have you dropped a coin or two into the box without ever really having the real genuine intention of helping out? Often. This is what I mean. 
In our Christian walk, all too often, we have done things to make ourselves feel better and look better- I've done my part as a Christian. The bible says both faith and deeds are important. Well, I have faith, and deeds wise... I have done those as well. 
This is about becoming a good enough Christian, and becoming great follower of Christ. See, I forbid myself to use the word Christian in the latter because that term has been so sensationized that it almost has nothing to do with following Christ anymore. Right now, it is more synonymous with homophobic, intolerance, hypocrites, self-righteous, pushy people, schemer, doomsday preacher, ugly double-standards than anything else- NONE of which was a characteristic exhibited by Christ when He walked the earth. 
We lose much when we try to hit the minimum, because then, we think we are doing God some favor of sort. Someone used the analogy of iPhone to illustrate this. The evangelism tactic today looks like this: a new iPhone has been released and it is for me to sell it to you. First I try to convince you that it is good. Then I try to convince you the price is good. Then when you refuse to budge, I lower the price. Still you refuse to relent, so I give it to you for free. Yet, in the scripture, Psalm 19 explicitly spells out the desirability of the things of God. Yes, salvation is by grace, and yes because of that salvation is freely given. But it is of ultimate insult to look upon salvation the same way we view the giveaways in the mall. That way, we cheapen the saving grace. By right, people should be queueing up and anticipating eagerly for this thing that is so good. This goodness... our lives would have to show. 
Not caring is not the way to go. In the Greek mythology, there is this story about the Siren's song. Siren is a part bird, part woman creature who resided amongst the rocks on the coast, and she would sing a song which entices the Greek soldiers to sail toward her when they set off for excursion. Before they knew it, the ship probably would have ran aground or collided with the rocks. Distractions in life are real, and not caring does not remove them. At best it's an ostrich's way of coping- I don't see it, so it's not there. We never realize when we veer off track, and we never realize how far we would have gone, and worst of all, we would not even realize the kind of danger we have gotten ourselves into. Destruction is at hand. 
Interpret David's resolution about not giving God something which cost him nothing, this is exactly it. It is about discovering something more valuable, to an extent that we begin to acknowledge- money is important, security is crucial, family, friends are all precious, but God ranks above them all. Those who does not hate his father and mother cannot be my disciple. It is not about sacrificing; it is about gaining something better. Abraham knew this when he chose to sacrifice Isaac who was the fulfillment of a 30-years old promise from God. Isaac meant the world, but God was the universe to Abraham.
Why do we harp on this so much? Isn't it better that we do not care- God's works would be able to proceed without hindrance and go on full steam.But then we would die, the ministry would die, the works would die, and the people would die. A ministry that is built apart from the lives are not connected to the source of life- ie. it will not live. It is based on feeling good, based on achievement, built on emptiness, and relied on human strength. However, a sense of abandonment despite caring would yield abundant fruits. Because it looks beyond what happens around us, it looks beyond what happens to us, but it looks at what happens within us- we are touched by God and we are transformed. Only then would an act of sacrifice make sense, and only then is an act of sacrifice possible.