The Ultimate Motives

By Rector Joseph Martin

Dear Friends,
As church and society continue to disintegrate into shattered fragments of what we once called normal life, many of us are being forced to ask questions about the human predicament that we never asked so seriously before. One of those questions from people who simply want to live a basic, normal life is, “Why do people do the things they do?”

Why do militants raid and brutalize innocent villagers? Why do business executives defraud clients out of their life savings? Why do church people sue each other? Why do husbands and wives not love each other the way they should? The questions can become even more personal when they sound something like, “Why can’t I stop eating? Why do I yell at my kids? Or, why am I so afraid of what people think?

These and other questions about the human condition become more than philosophical discussion points when the consequences of bad human behavior get closer to home or become personal, at which point we all want answers. This newsletter is devoted to reasonable answers. Answers that are not new, but have been covered over and replaced by enlightened human solutions from both church and state that are obviously not working.

In laymen’s terms, the problem with the human condition is that we are inherently self-centered creatures; human beings are naturally motivated by a drive to take care of ourselves. When this “ego-centric” tendency is further denigrated by the neglect and abuse of other ego-centric people and the assault of spiritual darkness and sin, this wayward, ego-centric “monkey” grows into a self absorbed, narcissistic, five hundred pound gorilla that knows no other thought than the ones that serve his own purposes.

This universal condition develops symptoms that range from husbands who devote themselves to work, hobbies, golf, fishing, and tv while remaining oblivious to the relational needs of their wives, to mothers who drive the minivan with children into the river disregarding the paradox between bringing life into the world and destroying it. In every case this propensity toward self-absorption and inward focus is so blinding that it fails to even recognize the needs and existence of other people let alone have the desire to do something about it, except as they satisfy the ego appetite.

The solution to this me-centered condition does not come from outside demands. Nagging may produce a lack-luster card and a box of chocolates, and a jail cell may confine the deviant from harming more people, but such external forces never change the “want to” of a person, never change the spotlight from navel gazing to neighbor gazing. The only thing that can turn a person away from a self-centered, inward focus, to a God-centered, outward focus, is the proper preaching and hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Luther theologian, Karl Holl, explains, “The forgiveness of sins itself, that is, the consciousness of being accepted by God, immediately directs the will toward God as soon as it is understood and appreciated.” *

This does not mean that humans are instantly cured of our ego problem, but what it does mean is that when we understand the amazing love and forgiveness God has freely given us through faith in Christ, our focus turns away from ourselves and, in love and gratitude, outward toward God and our neighbor; thus, the importance of hearing the Gospel of Christ, and God’s “justification of sinners” regularly. Only through this “ever-recurring” event is the “ego renewed” and the “ultimate motives” (loving God and neighbor) reached, which, according to Holl, “dominate us even without our being aware of them.” Now wouldn’t our wives (and neighbors) love that!

May we continue to hear and believe the gospel, and be dominated by the ultimate motives. -- joseph

* Karl Holl, “What did Luther Understand About Religion” (Fortress Press)