"It's not a religion, yada, yada, yada..."

I want God.

At least, I want to want God.

Maybe I want to want to want God.

At the very least, I hope I want God.

That's the lesson of the week in this neck of the woods.

Desire.

Want.

Hope.

What is it we want?

It was awakened in me by the simple words, "Saved from Hell and torment." And it just struck me weird. Something doesn't seem right. God has been tweaking my perspective on a lot of things over the past several years, and it seems that salvation has finally become the target. Oh, how easily we allow the Devil to become the focus of SO MANY beliefs and doctrines. How is it that our faith (read- religious paradigm) has become more focused on what you will be saved FROM and where it is you DON'T want to go rather than TO Whom we are saved and how much do we indeed WANT to be there?

Here is the point- Do we want to be with God as much as we don't want to go to hell? Are we (read- all perceived Christians) translating that to the people around us? Is it a fear based faith (if that can even be called a faith at all) or is it a trust based faith that we are progressing? (which is entirely redundant and for good reason considering how forgetful we are) It has been a standing tactic of my own personally to see the spiritual realm as a battle between truth and deceit. That the vast majority of us all believe and embrace willingly or ignorantly lies from Hell and that if we can "expose the lies no matter how they're disguised" (The Orange County Supertones 'Grounded.') then we are advancing the Kingdom of Light and beating back the darkness. I now wonder if it could be even simpler than this- that if we could focus on the lies spoken of God specifically, declare the truth of who we know Him to be, could that awaken the DESIRE hidden deep in the human heart for Him enough that the WANT for Him becomes greater than the fear/resistance/dread/hate/misunderstanding/etc. of Him? I'm reminded of Lewis's thoughts in "The Screwtape Letters" (I believe letter VIII) suggesting that God is too good to use indubitably and irresistability in His gathering of His people unto Himself. I found a link... BOOM there it is.

Anyway, the point is this- I believe we must do our part to change the Christian culture from one escaping from hell to one returning to God. We are not escapists. I doubt any of us would proclaim for half a second that we do not deserve hell and not going there would not have been our own plans. We are guilty as charged and the condemnation would have been befitting of our filthy hearts for as long as the good Judge declared. We are not merely escapists- we must be transformed into Lovers. Not refugees. Exiles perhaps, but more so, Pilgrims making their way to Someone they've dedicated their whole resources, lives, and thoughts to. If we are to grasp the abundant life proclaimed and availed to us by Jesus. We must want Him- not Him objectively- but Him personally and relationally and presently more than anything else. We must, having seen His holiness and goodness and experienced His love in our own lives, be willing to traverse Hell itself it it were to mean being with Him on the other side, not just want Him because He may have found the shortcut around Hell.

That's the imagery I'm looking for. Do we want Him for His own sake- or for the sake of our own hide? Would we want Him if the road went through Hell? Or do we want Him because He blazed a trail around Hell.

I know the answer in my own life. But the question is, are we declaring the truth regarding the how desirable God is or simply how awful Hell is? The country around us feels one way- perhaps the few around us could be shown a different way altogether.

Why should I be saved or even want to be saved? Because Hell is bad... or because God is good?