This is an excerpt from my upcoming book “God Alone, a short manual against bad religion”.
THE STATE OF OUR RELIGION
We have a bad notion of religion. We are selfish and act as though religion is about us. Some think it is a means of obtaining every good thing in the world while they remain obstinately in sin. Some think it is mainly about this world with a little thought of heaven. Others, believing themselves holy, say it is about going to heaven and “having a personal relationship with Christ.” The first two are completely wrong and dangerous; the last is closer, but it still misses the point.
Religion is virtue inclining man to give God His due, a duty of justice. You wake up each day with existence, and yet you are unnecessary. If you did not exist, existence would still exist. But Someone chose to give you life. So, you turn to Him in a heartfelt gratitude, which is worship, seeking His purpose. You ask, “Lord, now that You have willed me into existence, what more do You will, that Your servant may serve You?”
And you ask this knowing that God has no need of us. If we fail to praise Him, He can “raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9). Even the very praise we offer Him is itself His gift: “You have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself Your gift, since our praises add nothing to Your greatness but profit us for salvation, through Christ our Lord” (Roman Missal, Preface IV of Weekdays). We really have nothing of our own to give Him but our sins.
When we realize how unnecessary we are, then we give God the worship due to Him in humility, not as if He needed it. I remember a stomach-turning “praise and worship” song from when I was a kid: “My God does not eat yam, He does not eat meat, all He eats is praises.” I was about fourteen, but even then I knew it was a horrible song. God does not eat. He has no need of us. (This obviously was not the intention of the song or the singers, but I am only using this to make a point.) When we fail to grasp this truth, we appear before Him with pride, as though we could threaten Him with infidelity to force Him to give in to our foolish desires.
And yet, in practice, we often treat God with sloppiness, half-asleep, distracted, even blasphemous service, and assume it is enough. Meanwhile, God raises up servants who give Him everything. Because He is almighty, those who are faithful, who see His beauty and seek Him for Himself, He gives everything.
But many of us almost always arrive late to Mass as a habit and even mosey in slowly through the gate. Some come early but loiter outside, refusing to enter even when the church is empty and Mass has not begun. Some sit with their phones in hand, scrolling and chitchatting through the liturgy, refusing to pay attention to the homily no matter how moving it may be. And then, when a familiar song begins, they stand, clap, dance, and convince themselves that they have given God something worthwhile.
Why not offer God something demanding for once, something that actually costs you? Why not go to confession? Why not come early? Why not dress with dignity? Why not stop the chatter and recognize that you are on Mount Calvary? Why not listen and pray with your whole heart? Why not turn that phone off and leave your “presidential duties” for later? Why not accept the Gospel as it is preached, instead of dodging its rebukes by insisting, “This doesn’t apply to me”? Why not make a real sacrifice, and offer yourself with Christ to the Father? Why not take God seriously?
Even though we barely give anything of value, we often demand everything. And many lose their faith at the slightest experience of what they call “misfortune.” Some say they prayed for this or that, and because God did not respond as they expected, they accuse Him of silence. They lose something and complain as though such a thing should never have happened to them, despite being careless and often terrible in their religion.
This is not to say that the faithful are justified in blaming God or quarreling with Him, they are not. But those whose wills are aligned with His grieve differently. They feel the pain, yes, but they see beyond it to the Father who loves them and orders everything for their good. Suffering may come, but it does not breed despair or enmity with God.
Our lack of self-awareness is astonishing. We complain about suffering as though God owed us comfort. I once asked a man who was complaining if he had been faithful to God. He refused to answer. Who would dare to? For the truth is this: we deserve nothing but hell for our sins. Everything else is mercy.
So if we demand “justice” when trials strike, if we insist God settle accounts with us, then we are inviting Him to judge our lives. Can we endure what His books would reveal? That is why we humble ourselves and serve. We may be confused by loss, but it should not move us to blasphemy or to abandon our faith. What trial have we faced that the saints did not face and conquer? You may object, “But they were saints.” No, they were not born saints.
They faced the same trials we face today, and the same graces God offered them, He now offers to us. They were men and women like us, but they listened to God, obeyed Him, and worked with the graces they received, and God perfected them and made them saints. They took religion seriously. They did not run from every invitation to retreat, or prayer, or study. They knew that going to Mass only on Sundays was not enough, so they gradually restructured their lives until God became their all in all.
Someone like Saint Augustine could pray: “Lord, here cut, here burn, only spare me in eternity” (Confessions, Book X, ch. 29). How many of us can pray with that kind of courage, asking God to “cut and burn” us now, so that we may be spared forever?
So again: religion is a response of justice, to offer sacrifice to the God who made us. Not because He owes us anything more than He has already given, but because what He has already given is enough for us to give Him everything.
REASON FOR WORSHIP
Someone who decides that their main reason for worshipping God is because “He is my great provider” may sound sincere, even grateful. And in one sense, it is true, God does provide. But if that is the foundation of their worship, then what they are really saying is this: if God stopped providing, they would stop worshipping.
And let’s be honest, when people call God “provider,” they almost always mean material things. I have never once heard anyone use that word in a way that referred only to spiritual goods and deliberately excluded the material.
The problem with this way of thinking is that it cheapens the greatest gifts God has already given. It is like saying to existence, redemption, and sanctification themselves: “Oh, that’s nice, God, but unless You give me a car or a house, You’re not really God.” Think about it:
- We received existence, which we could not possibly merit, since we did not exist to earn it.
- We received salvation, which no human could ever deserve, because how could we merit not only forgiveness but adoption as sons and daughters of God?
- We received sanctification, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who cleanses and beautifies the soul, a gift no creature could demand.
And yet, even after all this, some still insist on “just a little more” in the form of material things before they will trust that God is good. How horrible!
There is no other reason to worship God except this: because He commands it, and because justice demands it. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, “Religion is the virtue whereby a man offers to God the worship and reverence that are due to Him” (Summa Theologiae, II–II, q.81, a.1). Worship is not flattery; it is justice. So we worship, not lazily, but with an alert mind, watching and waiting.
Let me say that again: God wants you to share in His very life. That truth alone should make you wild with joy every day. People should be holding you back from tearing your clothes in holy madness whenever you realize the scale of this unmerited gift. Honestly, we have no justification for being calm right now.
God wants us to sit on a throne and reign with Him forever. We were not only saved from sin; we were saved into communion, invited to enter His own life. And this is possible only because of the immense suffering of Christ, who purchased this high prize with His blood. He does not offer it because we deserve it, nor because He needs our worship in payment. No, He offers it because it is His nature to give everything to those He loves.
So if we turn and say, “Cool, now give me something else,” it only shows how small our minds are, proof that we have not yet grasped the weight of the gift. And that is putting it mildly. This does not mean we never forget these truths momentarily when trouble strikes, weakness can creep in but our minds would be terribly darkened if this were our permanent outlook on religion.
Yes, our minds are small. But faith enhances them. Faith lets us peek into heaven, catch a glimpse, and be utterly blown away. Faith lets us see what God is preparing, taste the promise of that eternal feast, and give everything we have to prepare garments worthy of a King. The gift is so far beyond us that even our best words of praise fall short. They almost sound insulting beside His majesty. Yet like a Father who smiles at the babbling of His children, God knows what we mean and blesses us with the fire of His love and joy. And what is more, He gives us His own Spirit to pray in us: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).
Justice begins when a creature turns back to God in worship. If he runs into the world without first paying this debt, all his other acts become disordered, because the first act of justice has not been paid. Imagine a man who fights for justice in society but refuses to feed his own wife and children. He has failed, and no one would take him seriously. He has placed a lesser duty (society) above a greater one (family). And the one who plunges into the world without first giving God His due commits an even greater injustice. He may labor for years, but his work is in vain. He is not a just man, no matter how loudly he speaks for the oppressed, because true justice begins with God and flows outward.
“It is right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give You thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.” (Preface of the Mass)
Suggested:
Are Some Christians Leading Others to Hell?
Kenneth C. Alimba is a Catholic who believes that the only RIGHT way to view the world is through the eyes of God – so he spends his life teaching people how to attempt to make this a habit as he tries to do the same.
