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God’s will

“Do not conform to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then, you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him is perfect.” — Romans 12:2

Abuse of Faith Claims

One of the most abused faith claims of Christians is the claim that what we are doing is God’s will. It is very easy for us to make this claim to justify theologically or morally what we are doing. In her State of the Nation Address last July 24, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) reiterated once again her claim that her presidency is God’s will.

This reminds us of Hitler in Germany who also made the same kind of claim for his leadership and for his ideology of Nazism. Following the logic of natural theology, Hitler claims that since God created human beings, and that Hitler himself is a human being, therefore Nazism comes from God and Hitler’s leadership is God’s will. It is logical but it does not necessarily mean it is true. Truth is not always logical.

Of course, we cannot prevent anyone, especially leaders of nations to make this kind of claim. Anyone has a freedom to declare his or her own faith in God. We are not very sure about President GMA’s reason for making her claim. Perhaps, because she was able to overcome so far all attempts to oust her from power. However, it is important for us to subject our claims to the test, lest we might be making false claims for ourselves.

Actually, it is not easily to determine God’s will. To understand God’s will we have to consult the Scriptures. The Holy Bible is a written revelation of God’s will. Thus, we have to ask seriously if our claim to God’s will is indeed in keeping of the Scriptures.

Codification of God’s Will

In the Old Testament, God’s will is codified in the Book of the Law or Torah, especially the Ten Commandments. Thus, if we are looking for God’s will we have to read and study the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20; Dt.5). We could make use of these Ten Commandments as basic norms or standards for measuring whether or not what we are doing is really God’s will.

Now, following the Ten Commandments, we must ask and answer ourselves honestly hard questions, like: Is our governance a concrete expression of our faith in the One True God or Is it a manifestation of our absolute obedience to the god of money or the god of national security? Is our governance a form of worship to the Living God or is it a form of worship to the image of the almighty dollar? Is our governance killing innocent people and stealing people’s votes and money? Is our governance bearing false witness and spinning distorted information to the people? Is our governance coveting people’s lands and properties through unjust laws of taxation and land use?

These questions based on the Ten Commandments are difficult questions to answer. But what Jesus Christ our Lord said to the Rich Young Ruler who came to him onetime is even more difficult (cf.Lk.18:18-25). In effect this leader wanted to get Jesus’ confirmation if what he was doing is God’s will, and thus he would receive eternal life or meaningful life. In response Jesus said to him, “Go and sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, come and follow me”.

Now, as leaders, are we willing to sell everything that we have and give it to the poor and follow Jesus? Are we willing to follow Jesus, who said that if we want to be great we must be the servant of the rest, and if we want to be first we must be the slave of all (cf. Mk.10:43-44)? Are we willing to prioritize the genuine needs of the poor rather than our political survival and domination?

Unless we are able to answer these questions honestly and truthfully our claims to God’s will as leaders, would be doubtful and questionable.

Transformed Mind

Apostle Paul reminds us that in order to know God’s will we must not conform to the standards of this world, but rather let God transform us inwardly by a complete change of our mind (cf. Rom. 12:2). In his Letter to the Philippians, Apostle Paul said, “Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than your selves”(Phil.2:3).

To have a transformed mind is to have the mind of Christ, who humbled himself and walked the path of obedience all the way to death – death on the cross (cf. Phil. 2:5-11). To claim and boast that we are “the best president” of this country is to be far away from the mind of Christ. This is conforming to the standards of this world. The mind of Christ is humility. It is humble servant-hood that characterized the very nature of the Christ.

Hence, we can safely say that our leadership and governance is God’s will if and when it is a servant leadership and governance patterned after the Christ “who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk.10:45). All else are simply pretentious false claims. #

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