In days 7 and 8, Warren asserts that everything exists for God’s glory and for God’s pleasure, respectively.
I’m struggling with this book, friends. I find it dogmatic, contradictory, preachy, and exclusionary. I find myself often thinking “so what – get to the point already.” I feel a lot of resistance to much of what Warren has written. I feel compelled to stick it out, though. Maybe I’ll learn something about myself in the process.
In Day 7, Warren says:
Jesus honored God by fulfilling his purpose on earth. We honor God the same way.
He then proceeds to lay out the major categories of how to bring glory to God: worship Him, love other believers, become Christ-like, serve others with our gifts and talents, and tell others about God.
Jesus didn’t care about religious dogma, which is why the pharisees hated Him. He also didn’t limit his love only to those who believed in Him. Yet, Warren tells us we can honor God in the same way Jesus did by following religious dogma. Nonsense. No one else in this world can tell you what path you should follow. However you understand what it means to “bring glory to God,” you do that by following the dictates of your soul – which is what Jesus did – not those of another human being.
In Day 8, Warren says God created us for his pleasure and enjoyment:
God did not need to create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. You exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight.
Warren says this “proves [our] worth,” but it sounds more like a dysfunctional relationship to me. This is only because of the perspective of God as a separate entity. If I leave off the notion of a separate God and replace it with the notion of “Good,” Being, Light, Love, or Truth, of which everything in the universe, including myself, is a reflection, then this makes sense – I experience pleasure, enjoyment, benefit, glory, purpose and delight when I “bring glory to God” – live according to the deepest values and desires of my soul.
8 days down, 32 to go. Will I make it? Stay tuned to find out.
TL;DR: No tl;dr for virtual book club posts.
