The overemphasis of obedience

It is dangerous to overemphasize obedience. Just as it is dangerous to overemphasize anything. All things must be done in balance. Balance is a key to life.

That said, I believe the church in America is out of balance when it comes to obedience. It's as if obedience is the only thing necessary for a healthy Christian walk. Just be obedient and everything will be fine.

Well, obedience is fine, and necessary, but it is not all that is fine, and necessary. There are many other things that are necessary as well. Love is necessary, trust is necessary, discipline is necessary, healing is necessary, deliverance is necessary, rest is necessary, fun is necessary, etc. etc. etc., you get the picture. Without all of these things, our walk, and lives, get out of balance.

Not to mention, that there are dangers to the overemphasis of obedience. Say you think that all that is necessary for you to live the victorious Christian life is obedience, and so you make that your highest aim. Then something besides God comes along and whispers in your ear, and since your highest aim is obedience, instead of a healthy, balanced , relationship, one in which you also can discern what is His voice and what is not, you do whatever is suggested, and BOOM! Problems. And then you are pissed off at Him, alienated from the people you hurt, and even more confused, because you can't figure out why, since you were being obedient, things went so wrong. This all happened because you made obedience your highest goal, when your highest aim should be, to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Out of which you will learn to obey. (Matthew 22:38, Exodus 20:1.)

We see fom this illustration that not only do you need to obey Him, but you also need to learn how to know what is His voice and what is not, in order to Obey Him. 1 Peter 5:9 says that we are to resist the devil, so it is pretty important to be able to tell what is the devil and what is God. Something that can be easily missed if your first priority is obedience. On the other hand, if your first priority is love, then you will end up developing a relationship with Him, in which you will learn what His voice sounds like, so you will know it, which will make your obedience all that much easier and effective.

Now of course there are those who, because they are so out of balance still, will say to me, "Yes, but John says that if you love Him, you will obey Him." This is of course true, but notice that the love comes first. Obedience without love is called servitude, and often fosters resentment. Obedience out of love is voluntary, full of joy, and bears much fruit. Paul, in his letter to one of the churches somewhere, refers to himself as a loveslave. Slave to love--almost an oxymoron, but you get the point.

We must have a relationship with Him. It is of the utmost importance.