RELIGIOUSLY SATISFIED
By Timothy Glover
When discussing the Bible with people, it is common to hear a response like, "I am a and I am satisfied with my religion." I have never been inclined to doubt their word. They are happy and feel that their religion meets their needs. However, I hope everyone reading this article will stop to think whether personal satisfaction is the basis for measuring religion. Too often, we expect others to give us happiness. If we are unhappy with the preacher or someone else who makes us miserable, we leave for a more comfortable pew in some other church who likes us just the way we are and do the things that we like.
The real question, however, should be, "Is God satisfied with me and my religion?" To answer this answer question honestly, requires skill in objectivity. Most of us are much harder on others than we are ourselves, even when we have similar character faults. Rather than being obsessed with pleasing ourselves, should not we be asking, "Is God pleased with me?"
Since God reveals his mind through the Spirit to the apostles (1 Cor. 2:7-16, Eph. 3:1-4), we may only know what please God by what we read in the Bible. [Please read the article, "Understanding the Bible"] Many readily agree but then say, "I just know I’m saved because of the way I feel in my heart. For some, that statement is based on a subjective feeling which is subject to a favorable interpretation, i.e., whatever is more comfortable to accept. Still, the way a person feels provides no guarantee that their feelings are correct. When Jacob was told that his son Joseph was dead, he felt all of the pain and remorse that accompany such a loss. Yet, it was not true that his son was dead. Just because someone can put their hand over their heart and say, "I feel saved" does not mean that they are in fact saved.
For many, this statement means that my conscience tells me that I am right with God. Again, while having a good and pure conscience is important, even that is not the basis for determining right. Did not Paul feel the same way while he was a Pharisee and persecuted Christians? He was sincere in all that he had done (Acts 26:9). He was satisfied because he felt he was doing right and based his feelings on objective standards. Yet, he was wrong!
How do you know if God is satisfied with your religious denomination? Can you read your answer in the New Testament? If not, how do you know he is satisfied? How do you know that you are really saved? Whatever you did, can you read about it in the New Testament? Did you do all that you can read in order to be saved? How do you know God is satisfied with your worship? Can you read what you offer to him as worship in the N.T? How do you know? Is it by the way you feel or is it by what you can read?