1 John 3:3
As
a boy I liked to play with cars, as most kids do from time to time. You could
put yourself in the car and drive up the tallest mountains (the couch) or
across the desert (the coffee table). You could be in a sports car or in a
battle tank. You could be out with your spouse and kids going on vacation, or
at the racetrack competing for the First Place trophy. And it all happened
right in your living room.
One
of the important tasks of being a parent is to figure out whether your child is
intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Do they respond better to pressure
from inside themselves or from pressure from the outside? Do you help them
discover what they really want to do or do you give them goals of your
choosing?
Intrinsically
motivated people don’t need the stars on their papers at school or the winning
ribbon in the race. They don’t need the pat on the back to keep them going.
They have a drive that resides inside themselves that drives them forward. Once
they have a project, they just do it. Their drive to accomplish rises up from
within them.
Extrinsically
motivated people thrive on those external rewards and directions. They want the
“kickoff” event and the pep rallies. They like quarterly goals and weekly
reports. These things keep them moving forward. They need the pressure that
someone else places on them to keep them moving.
As
a parent it is important to know what drives your kids so you know how to help
them achieve goals and move forward.
As
Jesus followers we have reasons to move forward. John gives us both intrinsic
and extrinsic reasons for obedience. We are now His children (intrinsic), and
He is returning and fully revealing the truth (extrinsic). And John draws on
both of these as he points out the hope we have in Him.
John
tells us that everyone who knows they are His child and who will someday be
changed and be like Him, everyone who has this hope must do something. It makes
no difference whether we are responding to this new identity we have as His
child (intrinsic) or whether the celebration at His coming (extrinsic) drives
us to purity. We all need to take responsibility for our conduct in this world.
What we do needs to reflect His character and He is pure.
This
is where some people make excuses. They define purity in a way that allows them
to continue to do what they know they shouldn’t be doing. You can usually tell
by the urgency and anger that drives the defense of the action. They talk about
being “born this way” or narrow cultural constraints. They talk about other
people at other times or in other places having different practices. Or they
speak the excuse of all excuses, “I’m not hurting anyone.”
We
need to be pure, just as He is pure. No excuses. When we sin, repent and start
walking again toward purity.