A Call from God or My Ego?

A great little quote from Kathleen Norris to think about. I have quoted several times from this book, and trust me, I have highlighted more text than I have left clean. I should have highlighted the words that haven't challenged, enlightened, or encouraged me.

"All too often when I volunteer for a job at church, it is because I feel like it: I have the time, and I know it will make me feel good in every sense of the word, fulfilled and virtuous. Yet often the tasks I don't particularly want turn out to be the ones I most need to perform. One test to determine whether I am receiving a call from God or from my ego is to ask whether this is something I would rather not do, or feel incapable of doing well. If either is the case, my best course may be to set my feelings aside and try to do the job."

Comments

[Adam]

Hey Tim,

How does this match up when God calls us to something we really do enjoy?

While I totally agree that we serve(volunteer) for our own benefit; I don't believe that true service is simply finding the thing we dislike. That to me is also self-fulling. A form of self martyring maybe?

[Tim Keel]

This is a good question, Adam. I believe that it is Anselm who says that the glory of God is a human being fully alive. Which I believe. The question becomes then, what does it mean to be fully alive? And does being fully alive mean that we always reap the luxury of enjoyment for all that we would undertake? I am doubtful. However, this does not mean that true service is simply finding the things we dislike, nor do I read that in what Norris writes and that I quote.

I think she is simply recognizing that we often have a tendency to do things like serving because it is convenient or easy or enjoyable for us to do. In a sense it is a way to fulfill ourselves. Which is fine. I think what Norris is getting at is that there are times when God may be asking us to serve him in a way that is not easy, convenient, or enjoyable. This is where she grows suspicious of her inclinations, I think, and acts to counter the selfish orientation of her ego - or flesh as the New Testament would say it. I think in this we can reference the way Jesus wrestled with God in prayer in the garden of Gesthemane as his will and the will of the Father regarding his service were in "negotiation." The issue for me is one of discernment of opportunity and the freedom, in love, to respond.