Is "Just Enough" -- Enough?

What if I were to walk into the living room where my beautiful wife sits and say this to her: "Okay, so we're married. I get it. I just need to be real clear on how much I have to do to stay married. What are your requirements? Give me a check list -- as long a one as you want -- and I will do whatever I have to, but no more. That's it. I am looking for the minimum allowable effort."

What would her response be? I doubt that her heart would flutter with joy or that she would brag to her friends about her dedicated and loving hubby, right?

Let me switch gears here. There is something in the universe known as the Law of Unintended Consequences. For example, guns have been effectively banned in the United Kingdom and now their level of robberies, murders and rapes has risen to a rate higher than that in the USA. The very thing they were trying to stop -- violence in their culture -- was fed by the law they passed.

Some very intelligent and dedicated men got together before and after the Cane Ridge Revival. They were seeking a way to unite all the sects of Christianity so that believers would no longer be divided. They put their considerable intellects to work, seeking a solution to the constantly fracturing world of Christian faith and came up with a plea to discover the irreducible minimums of Christianity -- those things all of us could, or should, agree on. They wanted to strip away all the denominational clutter and return to the "thus saith the Lord" of the New Testament.

How successful they were at finding the minimums is, of course, a matter of some controversy, but no one should impune their motives. The results, though, were not what they expected. Those who embraced the concept began dividing over who had found the correct irreducible minimums! Each found proof texts to back up their position and accused those who agreed with them on 90% or more of all their findings, but not the remainder, of being unfaithful, false teachers, evil and corrupt in their minds and hearts, listening only to their own itching ears.

Unbelievable. What was designed to create unity fostered division and acrimony.

But that's not all. It also created a philosophy of religion that turned our worship, obedience, and lifestyles into a simple matter of keeping the minimums, obeying the laws our particular sub-set agreed were the most important. We saw travesties such as men who were dishonestly taking worker's compensation being allowed to lead around the Lord's Table and men who treated their wives as nothing more than property now elevated to leadership because -- as flawed as they were -- they agreed with us on the use of musical instruments or what colleges or authors were acceptable (if any!). Their minimums were our minimums, so they were all right with us.

We had done the religious, metaphysical equivalent of going into our mate and asking for the minimums, thinking that might be acceptable. If it wouldn't work in our marriages (and it wouldn't!), what makes us think God will be happy with that level of love and commitment? Why should we design our worship and lives in such a way as to just stagger across the line of acceptability?

Confession time: I don't just love my wife -- I am enthralled by her. I am fired up and freaked out by being allowed to live in the same house as her. I am amazed by her; I'm always trying to find a way to please her, get near her, and make her smile. I light up when I think of her.

Why can't God get that kind of love from us? Why can't we stop trying not to do anything wrong and, instead, live and love Him lavishly, outrageously, and in such a way that -- though we might not get it exactly right -- He has no doubt where our heart is? Isn't that why He approved David's dance -- barely clothed -- before the Ark and cursed Michel's complaining about it?

In our search to only do what is acceptable, and only do it as often as we are commanded to do so, have we sterilized our religious lives and traded passion and joy for repetition and comfort? I don't WANT my marriage or my religion to be comfortable! I want it to be scary, passionate, thrilling, costly, risky, and powerful beyond words.

What say you?