Covetousness, Conceit, and the Concept of Co-creation
If you could buy anything in the world what would it be? Many of us would go for the latest gadget or toy. Others dream bigger and would go for a new wardrobe, television, or car! We live most of our life wanting something. Some things we desire are noble while others are downright self-centered. When you want to buy toys for foster kids: noble. When you want to upgrade your working-just-fine tablet: selfish. But some of our desires are more difficult to categorize. Is it selfish to want to send your kids to a private school? Is it noble to bid on tickets at a silent auction? It is helpful for us to take pause and consider why we want what we want.
I came across a passage from John E. Biersdorf's Healing of Purpose. He makes the following comments about prayer in action, "To act without the prayerful discernment of God's action would be foolish. To pray and then not to act in co-creation would be empty. Intercession is God's desiring through our desiring the specific healing and redemptive work to which we are called."
Intercession is God's desiring through our desiring...
The idea of us as co-creators with Christ caught my mind's eye. Do you believe that prayer is God's wants through our wants as it relates to the redemption of the world? This is a big claim and would have a significant impact on the way we interpret our own motivations.
Paul reminds Christians in Galatia and Rome that, "flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh (Galatians 5.17)." And that they should not, "think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh (Romans 13.14)." But is it possible for us to source desire outside of ourselves? The Psalmist explores us to, "Take delight in the Lord, [because] he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 31.4)."
It seems that when we delight in ourselves, we covet for ourselves; but when we delight in the Lord it is possible to covet for the Lord. Such wanting would keep our egos in check and allow us to co-create a world in which God comes first.
