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It is of great importance for Christians to know their inclination. What is the inclination of man’s heart? What is man seeking after? What is his lifelong goal? These are great questions of human life and the so-called philosophy of life. What should man really take as his purpose? Throughout the history of mankind, there have been varied opinions about this, but until now there is still no definitive answer. Even though successful and famous people have their own individual goals, they are unable to offer us an accurate answer as to what really is the goal of human life.
Christians have God living within them; they have God’s life in them. Hence, they may be considered the remarkable and exceptional ones among men. With these ones, what is the goal of their human life? They read the Bible and pray daily, and they also meet together and offer petitions regularly. What actually is their inclination? What do they want to obtain in their pursuit? I am afraid even they are not able to give us a clear answer. Some may say that they believed in Jesus to find someone to whom they can entrust themselves. This is because they are convinced that those who do not believe in Jesus do not have God and that those who do not have God have no one to whom they can commit themselves. Others may say that they became Christians in order to obtain peace and enjoy blessings. They consider that those who are without God have neither peace nor blessings; those who have God, however, will obtain peace and enjoy the God-given blessings if they pray to God whenever they face some difficulties. It seems that to be a Christian is just to hope for these things.
What is God’s intention for His children? What does He want His children to focus on and seek after? In other words, what does God want us Christians to obtain in our pursuit? If Christians fail to ascertain this goal, then it is difficult for them to be normal, genuine Christians. This is because if a Christian does not have a proper goal, his direction and his way will be wrong; consequently, he will not conduct himself as a Christian. Therefore, in addition to church history, Christians should know the proper Christian goal so that they may establish the proper Christian model. After all, the model of a Christian is determined by his goal.
There is a great problem, however, that hinders man from knowing this goal. For instance, if someone tosses a small diamond or pearl into a pile of rice grains, it will be difficult for us to find the gem. However, if he puts the diamond or pearl in his hand, then the gem can be clearly seen. The Christian goal is truly a mystery in the universe because it has been hidden in a countless number of matters and things. Consequently, many lose sight of the goal because their eyes have become blurred. Although there is a great distinction between the goal and the myriad of things, it is difficult to identify the goal because it has been mixed in with so many things. If we know the Bible, however, we can see that man was created exclusively for God. For example, a microphone is used exclusively for speaking or singing. In the universe man was created with a unique purpose. The microphone may be altered to be used for other functions, but man cannot be changed for other purposes. Once the purpose of man is changed, the original purpose of God’s creation of man is nullified.
In Genesis we are clearly told that man was created for God. Therefore, man’s goal is God; man must pursue God and long for God. If man receives God, he will have the inner satisfaction, joy, and peace, his eyes will be enlightened, and all his problems will be resolved. Please remember that before the fall of man and his subsequent removal from God’s presence, man was in fellowship with God. At that time man was filled with satisfaction and joy. However, because man fell away from God, there was a distance between man and God. Thus, man was alienated from God. Thereafter, man lost his satisfaction, joy, and enjoyment of God.
We can find out how music came about if we study the Bible carefully. Music came into existence after man had lost the enjoyment of God due to his fall and removal from God’s presence. Man invented music for self-amusement because he had been alienated from God and had lost his joy in God. Thus, music was brought in because man had lost God (Gen. 4:21). A person who has God has music. The Bible tells us that the best music is God Himself. A person who has God can make melody in his heart. Millions of saved ones can testify that they sing and make melody because they have God as their music. If a person does not have God, he does not have music; he can neither sing nor play music. Therefore, he has to seek after music outside of God. The reason that man seeks after music is that he does not have God. He seeks after amusement because he has lost God.
There is a Chinese idiom that literally means “drinking poisonous wine to quench one’s thirst.” It is used to describe a person who acts against principle for a moment’s relief or comfort and thus brings endless sufferings upon himself. Having lost God, man has an unquenchable thirst in his inner being. What can he do then? The only alternative he has is to “drink poisonous wine.” I believe that even today there are so many friends around us who attend theaters, go to dances, or play mah-jongg. Their participation in all these forms of amusement proves that they have lost God and that there is a great distance between them and God. Whenever we ask others to provide us a little pleasure or sympathy, this proves that we do not have God—we have lost God. No one would look for more water immediately after he has drunk to the full. If we are still looking for water, this proves that we have not drunk to the full and that we are still thirsty. The fact that people are seeking all kinds of amusements proves that they do not have God. I have seen some people who find pleasure in riches. People of this kind do not like dancing, going to bars, or playing mah-jongg; they only enjoy seeing a lot of money in front of them. When they count their money and examine their bank deposits, they become exhilarated. Others find pleasure in music; as long as they have music, they can forget about everything else. Still others focus their interest on literature. Therefore, we may say that everyone who has left God is always occupied by certain hobbies. There is no exception to this. Regardless of whether they are men or women, young or old, highly educated or barely educated, no one is without a hobby; everyone has something that he loves. A certain old man may care for nothing but a string of pearls. It does not matter if the weather is hot or cold, he likes to hold the pearls just the same. It seems that without the pearls he is at a loss to know what to do. Why is this? This is because man’s heart cannot be empty. This is true even with an old man. Although he no longer desires anything in his heart, his heart cannot remain empty and needs to be occupied and filled with something.
Man’s heart ought to be occupied and filled with God. If a person allows God to occupy his heart, other things will not come in. Let me use an illustration: While I am staying in my room, if a cat comes, I will chase it away. If a dog comes, I will also chase it away. If a pig comes, I will drive it away all the more. If I do not stay in my room, however, then the cat, the dog, and even the pig will come in. Therefore, man’s heart ought to be occupied by God; otherwise, many things will come in. If we examine the hearts of men, we will find out that no human heart is empty. For this very reason man becomes confused, his vision is blurred, and he is unable to discern his own inclination.
In reality man’s heart is like the sticky paper that is set out to catch flies in the summer. Everything that comes into contact with the flypaper gets stuck. Whether it is a strand of hair, a feather, or a handkerchief, whenever it comes into contact with the flypaper, it gets stuck. It is the same with man’s heart. When man’s heart touches literature, literature is stuck to it. When man’s heart touches money, money is stuck to it. Man’s heart is bewildered because so many different things are stuck to it. For example, a wife’s heart is filled with her husband, children, house, money, clothes, refrigerator, and car. In addition, she wants the Lord. Thus, how can the eyes of her heart not be blurred? It is really difficult for man’s heart to be empty. When a person is young, his heart is wild; when he becomes old, his heart is blurred.
Once when Charles Spurgeon was preaching, he said, “Look at this man here! His feet are grown in his heart!” Everyone stood up to look but did not see anything unusual. Then he explained, “Man’s feet are for walking on the earth, and man’s heart ought not to touch the earth, yet today all the things of the earth have come into man’s heart. This is why I say that man’s feet are grown in man’s heart.” Is this a joke? I often ask a child, “Do you want the Lord Jesus?” He replies, “Yes, I want the Lord Jesus.” Then I ask again, “Do you want some clothes?” He says, “Yes, I want some clothes.” Again, I ask, “Do you want some dollar bills?” He answers, “Yes, I want some dollar bills.” Is this not a case of “the feet growing in the heart”? All our hearts are impure. This impurity does not necessarily mean that we have sins and filthiness. Perhaps we do not have any sin or filthy thing, but we have many interests and pursuits. In Genesis, after man had lost God due to the fall, he began to seek many other things as replacements. As a result, several thousand years of human history show us that after leaving God, man fell into the materialistic world and has not been able to rescue himself.
Man’s fall resulted in two situations: one is that man fell into material things, and the other is that he fell into sins. Material things are for man’s enjoyment. If man has God, he does not need material enjoyment. Since man has lost God and is without God, he needs material enjoyment. Material things as replacements of God are counterfeits. Those who stress material enjoyment seek satisfaction and solace in the material world because they do not have God. A person who has God puts the material things aside. When man’s flesh craves worldly enjoyment, it leads to lusts. Someone asked me if it is all right to go to a play. I said it is not. Then he said that going to a play is not sinful. It is true that the play itself may not be sinful, but it can arouse your lust and lead you to sin. Many people like to go to movies, some of which are not necessarily sinful. However, after going several times, their lust will be aroused. In the same way, putting on beautiful clothes and using cosmetics are not necessarily sinful. Such enjoyment, however, can arouse the lusts and result in sin. The enjoyment of material things always leads to sin. This is an unalterable principle.
The most licentious people are those who have the highest enjoyment in material things. They stress the enjoyment in food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and eventually they are overtaken by their lusts. Therefore, the result of man’s fall into material things is that man falls into sins. Material things develop man’s lusts. All kinds of material things have been organized, systematized, and constituted into a material world. Man exists in the world solely for his living, which is maintained by food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. When man has a problem in his living, he has a problem in his enjoyment. If he does not have enough to eat, cannot keep himself warm, has no place to live, and has no means for traveling, this means that the matters of food, clothing, housing, and transportation are still unresolved. These are matters relating to material enjoyment.
Material enjoyment has developed into a system, which the Bible calls the cosmos, meaning the “world.” All kinds of material things have become a system to ensnare man. This is the world. The world incites man’s lusts. When man’s lusts are incited, it is easy for man to fall into sin. When man’s lusts appear, there is no way for man to escape sin. Therefore, applying cosmetics or going to a play is not sin, but after doing these things a few more times, sin enters. Man’s falling into sin consists of two aspects: one aspect is enjoyment, and the other aspect is sin. Some manifest their lusts in a crude way, without any “cosmetics” or “adornment,” whereas others manifest their lusts in a “refined” and “noble” way. In either case they are all in an enjoyment that brings in lusts and results in sin. In conclusion, wherever there is the enjoyment of material things, there is lust, and there is also sin.
The problem today is that material enjoyment indeed brings in the lusts of the world. Moreover, man has fallen into the world of material things. A shortage of food and lack of clothing, however, are real personal problems. Under these circumstances, how should Christians live on earth? Some describe the heart of the Chinese people as a heart focused on money. They say that the Chinese and the Jews are the only two peoples on this earth who really love money and that the Chinese, in particular, worship gods in order to get rich. Now I am afraid that some have believed in Jesus in order to acquire wealth; the testimonies of these ones are not edifying at all. For example, someone said, “Yesterday morning I purchased a load of textiles, but by the afternoon the price went up. Thank the Lord that I have made a lot of money.” Take another example: An elderly woman prays for her son who is out of town for business, “O God, may You keep him safe, prevent him from any accidents, and bless his business. You know our family of ten all depend upon him for our living.” Actually, this kind of testimony and prayer is not according to God’s desire. If God is merciful to you, He will not make you rich, because wealth is Satan in disguise. To put it bluntly, that is the world and that is sin; that is not really a blessing. Because our heart is not pure, we always expect God to bless us and give us peace. Those who worship Buddha chant and beg, hoping that the gods who bestow blessings and peace will respond to all their pleas. Christians, however, must not pray like that because that kind of prayer is not pleasing to God. The Bible says, “What shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life?” (Matt. 16:26). If a person wants to follow the Lord, he must sell all his possessions and give to the poor, and then he will have treasure in the heavens (19:21).
Christians today are so pitiful that they actually esteem that which the early saints cast away. In Ecclesiastes 1 Solomon declared that all things under the sun are a vanity of vanities (v. 2). If God were to give the material things to us, He would be giving us vanity. In the New Testament, Paul, a man who knew God, says that material things are refuse, dung, and stinky, worthless things (Phil. 3:7-8). Many Christians today, however, consider these stinky things treasures. This is because man, having fallen into the enjoyment of material things, cannot discern the true nature of these things. Therefore, some are even bewildered and ask, “Do you really mean to say that we should not care about our food and about our living? Why should we embrace a religion if it cannot take care of our living?” Many people have asked the same questions. This only indicates the pitiful situation of men who have fallen into the snare of material things. God’s salvation is to deliver us from the fallen condition of the material world, just as He has delivered us from our lusts. Therefore, Christians should take nothing else but God Himself as their goal.
Such model Christians appeared in the first two to three centuries. They did not care for anything other than Christ; they gave up their wealth and fame and were willing to suffer hunger and martyrdom. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there was still this kind of Christian. One example is Francis of Assisi. He was from a wealthy family and had received a great inheritance from his father. One day in his meditation a revelation came to him. He saw that a person will lose God if he gains wealth and will have no room for wealth if he gains God. Francis had found the goal of human life, which is just God Himself. He realized that if he wanted anything outside of God, he would lose God. That day the Lord told him, “Sell all your possessions.” In a determined manner he responded, “Lord, I will sell all my possessions to follow You.”
Another time, when Francis was meditating before God, someone teased him, saying that he was thinking about getting married. He answered, “You are right! I was thinking about being engaged to a girl whose name is Poverty. In fact, I have just been engaged to Poverty.” After saying this, he got up and on that very day gave all his possessions away to the poor. Many Christians were touched by him and responded in the same way. This is the Christian model and goal. If God’s children want to gain God, they must forsake their material wealth and willingly become poor. Air cannot get into a cup that is filled with water; the water must be poured out before air can get into the cup. May God have mercy upon us so that we can see this reality.
Since we are children of God, our goal is neither enjoyment nor peace but God Himself. Perhaps some will say that they cannot believe in this kind of Christianity. And yet still so many have believed in Christ. In the last two thousand years tens of thousands of Christians have willingly become poor to follow the Lord. Today if we desire to take the way of recovery, we must also have this kind of vision and burden and be able to testify, saying, “All things are refuse! What my heart pursues is neither peace nor blessings but God Himself.” John Bunyan was a well-known figure in English literary history and the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress. It is believed that on one occasion he cried out loudly, “O Heaven, come! O Earth, come! I will praise the Lord whom I serve if He leads me to heaven; I will still praise Him even if He puts me in hell.” He cared neither for heaven nor for hell; he cared only for God. He wanted neither the enjoyment in the present age nor the blessings in the coming age but only God Himself. This is the model of the Christians, and this is also the pursuit of the Christians.
