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Acceptance Part II: From God


In the previous post I touched on the problem of seeking acceptance from other people. This post will focus on when we seek acceptance from God. Our need to be accepted and affirmed by other men and women is only matched by the need to receive the same from the Almighty One. How we seek acceptance from the Lord depends on the church circles and teachings we ascribe to. For some the desire to seek acceptance from Christ is nonexistent; they believe that at the Cross of Calvary, our Savior has already accepted us when he bled and said "It is accomplished." In this more Charismatic or spirit filled view, there is no need to strive for acceptance from the Lord. In stark contrast, being accepted by the Jesus is a fundamental tenet in more traditional and liturgical circles of Christianity. For one denomination  in particular, there is an endless treadmill of seeking the forgiveness and acceptance of the Almighty through penance and indulgences. In this frame of faith, followers must live in fear of not being embraced by Emmanuel because of their feelings of unworthiness.

Those who feel compelled to seek Christ's acceptance are often considered weaker in the faith. Brothers and sisters who feel accepted by the Lord remark that those seeking to be affirmed and embraced on merit are in mutiny to ther real Gospel of Grace. However, the urge to appease the Lord and gain his acceptance is not always built on a merit system of salvation. Sometimes a believer having had a parent, father or mother who demanded service and certain behavior to give love and approval creates a complex in a Christian that stays and makes them respond to their Heavenly Father in the same way. Those under this guilt complex and conditional love look to God as another parent waiting for a report card. That is not to say that our Lord wants us to behave badly, on the contrary we are to become Christ-like. But this process of santification and changing our nature into that of Christ is not to merit salvation, but to be closer to Him and effect others so that they may be saved. (Ephensians 2:8).

I am going to get honest here. I fell into this trap of acceptance and favor seeking recently. I have always enjoyed crosses and wearing them. I collect these symbols of faith and seek to wear them to identify myself as a Christ Follower and to provoke conversations that could lead to conversion. But recently the Lord gave me vivid dreams. In the dreams I was trying to pick out a crucifix at one store and then at another store there was a great selection. I could not find the one I wanted. I woke up and I heard the Lord say, "You cannot buy your spirituality."  You see I had gotten into pattern of buying religious paraphanalia like crosses to prove my devotion to the Lord and boost my spiritual life; but it really turned into a treadmill to gain His acceptance (favor) and subsequently the acceptance of other Christians. Now there is nothing wrong with crosses or collecting them. The point was I had fallen into a polluted pattern. I learned that I should not seek to prove myself to the Lord through acts or to try to gain favor from other followers of Christ by showing displays of piety. My path to this faulty place came from the parental acceptance mentioned earlier and the insecurity birthed from that broken relationship. 

There is nothing we can do to gain acceptance from the Almighty. Jesus Christ accepted us on the cross with open arms. He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins and selfish behavior. If we believe in Christ, He shall accept us completely and wrap us in his arms of love and acceptance. There is nothing more to be done. We do good works and show signs of our salvation not to gain greater favor, but to spread the faith! That is the fine line of motives. Are you doing something religious to reassure the Lord that you are acceptable or do you do it to give his adoration and add more family to the faith? If it is the latter, then your heart is in the right place, but if you are still seeking approval and acceptance, then you have not fully recieved the truth that God loves you and accepts you through His Son Jesus Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to heal your heart and show you in the way you best see and hear, what lie has fashioned this desire to be accepted by God.

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