    |
 |
    |
1 March 2002 Editorial:
Duty or Desire?
Larry Kirkpatrick
Sharing our faith
We take here nothing away from the concept of duty. Duty is an under-emphasized motivation today. There are many things that are our duty that we ought to do if for no other reason simply because we recall our responsibility to others, whether people, our government, our church. But what springs within, naturally? Do you desire to drive the speed limit?
When it comes to sharing our love for Christ, our thankfulness for what He's done for us, where is our heart? With whom are our thoughts? Consider how Sister White puts it:
Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things. (Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 58).
We do not spend, I am sure, enough time in self-examination. Nor do we spend enough time in mental reflection concerning our Savior. In the statement above we are led to weigh where our affections are centered who are we thinking about; and who do we enjoy talking about? We need to watch. We sometimes may prefer talk of God's ideas to talk of Him as a person. If so, let us not talk less of the divine ideas, but add to that much more talk of Him as a person.
Ellen White asked, "Who has our warmest affections and our best energies?" Does He have that, really? Are we returning to God our best energies? Is it true for me today that my "sweetest" thoughts are of Him?
We (so-called "conservative" Adventists) are frequently accused of being cold or hard-hearted. I am very sure that those accusations are much exaggerated. At the same time, it is probably true that that person sitting in the chair frowning across the way may not be experiencing the sweetest thoughts of Jesus.
When we go to God's house for worship especially we should be joyful. We should be smiling. Let our demeaner be a recommendation for our faith. We can all do better. Maybe part of this goes back again to whether our service flows from duty or desire. Do we desire to please God?
When we come to church and sing hymns, let's sing with more vigor, more volume. Let's be praising the One whom we love in an obviously pleasant way. No, we should not come to church and manufacture some counterfeit smile or pleasantness. Have you ever met anyone who long could fake a counterfeit pleasantness? I haven't.
What if one lacks desire? A suggestion: pray to God. Ask Him to increase your desire to serve Him. He will readily answer that prayer. It may or may not be in a direct way. He may know that best for you is to increase your desire through more study, or more service toward others. He knows what is best. Our Father is good. Heaven will answer such a prayer. God grant us more desire
 | Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda. |
| Freely reproduce these materials | A statement regarding donations |
| To Email the GCO editor: larry@greatcontroversy.org |
|
 |