Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.
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"I don’t know of any other religion where personal performance is so clearly negated by the Love of God."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 59.
Religion, when tied to personal performance, is something I strongly recommend that you stay away from. If you are in any kind of belief system where it is up to you to better yourself so that you can advance to whatever your religion promises is part of an afterlife, I hope you know you are playing with victim thinking.
You see, there is no way you can ever maintain the kinds of performance required to step more fully into the benefits promised by any belief system. Humans are prone to mess things up. It isn't that we are stupid. It isn't that we are incapable of higher expressions of greatness the likes of which belief systems aspire. It is that this world is remarkably proficient at making it so easy for you and for me to do and say things that will enable us to fall short of whatever standards we hold true in life.
Christianity is the only religion I have ever come across that fundamentally is against performance in its belief system. I know you are ready to argue with me on this statement, but give me a moment to explain what I mean.
You might be a person who got burned by being part of a Christian religion in the past. It might have been the rules and regulations based performance structure that did the burning in your life. I'm one of those people as well. Here's what I've learned about the apparent performance aspects that is sometimes found in the Christian faith.
You have to realize that performance was never part of God's plan. It is man, trying to organize and systematize the Church that has made performance something that it should not be inside the Christian Church. Why has the Church done this? Remember my comments earlier about humans being uniquely qualified to mess things up in this world? The same goes for those running our churches. They are just as much human as we are. Because of that fact, they too will make a mess of things like you and like me from time to time.
At its core, Christianity is all about God doing all the work. You see, He knew that we would never be able to maintain the level of performance required to come up to His level of perfection. That's not possible in a world that is controlled by evil. That will change when God decides that it is time for Him to reclaim this world that was His from the beginning. In the meantime, we need help. That help came in a savior - Jesus. It was His work on the cross that made it possible for us to step into a perfection based life even when our ability to live in perfection is greatly compromised by the imperfect world we live in.
It is when we add do's and don'ts to the simplicity of God's plan that we get ourselves into trouble. There is nothing worse than trying to earn what is being freely given to us. It is like being given a birthday present and immediately leaving the party to go drive Uber so that you can earn enough money to pay for that gift. Not only is it a waste of time to pay for what is being freely given, it is kind of foolish to boot.
That's what religion does when we make performance be part of the Christian faith. We literally don't have to do a single thing to live out the victor status God has made possible for us. Ok, we do have to do one thing. We have to accept the free gift! That's it. Nothing more is required.
What about all those things in the Bible that sound like commands? Well, they have nothing to do with what God is offering when it comes to living with Him. Anything that you see in the Bible that sounds like a do or a don't is there as a statement of fact as to what is best for us when it comes to the worldly based consequences that result when we choose to go against what God sees as best for our lives. Those statements aren't there to make performance anything that is connected to relationship with the God that loves us. No other religion can make that statement.
What does all this have to do with the victim to victor discussion? I believe the lack of performance that makes relationship happen in Christianity is the cornerstone of being able to live out our victor status. I have said it over and over again, but anything that we do that is tied to who we are will ultimately put us in a position where failure will result. When we fail, over and over again, in areas that are as critical as our belief system, we can't help but to feel that we just don't measure up. Left long enough in that place of spiraling self doubt, victim thinking will always result.
Look, I'm not here to sell Christianity. I know many followers of Christ link their identity in Christ to how well they sell their faith. In my opinion, that's simply wrong. Jesus isn't a product. Relationship should never be viewed as something that is marketable. It cheapens what relationship is suppose to be all about in the first place. No, I'm not here to sell Christianity. I'm here to promote the fact that victor living is something we all have available to us.
What I have found is that victor living is much more possible when what our belief system is based on isn't packed with performance requirements. Christianity is the only religion I have found that fits that bill. If you have found a belief system that works for you when it comes to maintaining victor living - go for it! Just be on the lookout for any requirement for performance hidden in the system that you use to make your victor status be all it can be.
I want to close with a really short Bible verse that highlights what the essence of Christianity is all about. When you are tempted to allow performance be the foundation for your status as the victor I believe God sees in us, come back to this verse.
You’re all I want in heaven!
You’re all I want on earth! Psalm 73:25 (MSG)
God isn't looking for you to live up to your status as a victor. He isn't looking at anything you can do to earn that status. Let today be all about the fact that He wants to be with you, now and forever more. In that place of relationship we stand the best chance fight off the victim thinking assaults that will come at us in life. Stand strong in your status as God's victor as you take on your day today.
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