Obedience - doing what your told, or what is right.
Sacrifice - giving something up that has meaning to you.
I see what the others are saying, that they're not mutually exclusive. Obedience can involve sacrifice, but it doesn't have to. Sacrifice can be obedient, but, likewise, doesn't have to be.
You could frame the question like this: Is it better for someone to be obedient to a cause all their life but never give anything up for it (make a sacrifice), or is it better for someone to be disobedient to that same cause all their life but make one huge sacrifice for it?
To say it like that, it's almost like the prodigal son story: Which son was more worthy--the one who stayed or the one who came back?
But that gives a biased picture.
We could also reframe the question this way: Is is better for someone to give everything they have for something and stray sometimes, or is it better for someone to be consistently obedient but never give much.
Now it sounds like we're talking about a different story entirely. You have someone who is imperfect who is often doing the disobedient thing, but who's heart is in the right place, and then someone who is just going along with no real passion for anything, but always doing what they're told.
The difference is not in whether they were more with the obedience or the sacrifice... the difference is where their heart is. If you're going to be obedient, stick to the spirit of the law, not the letter. If you're going to make sacrifices, don't devalue them by hypocritically acting against in everyday life.
Obedience is no better than sacrifice. Sacrifice is no better than obedience. I submit that what makes either of these actions good, bad, or indifferent is not the actions themselves, but the spirit in which they are mustered, and the specifics that surround them.
I'd be curious to see your thought process on the subject.
I think there is an interesting dialog between Samuel and Saul in 1 Samuel 15 that relates to this. The chapter explains how Saul was given a command by God to, "go attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them." As you may recall, Saul didn't carry out the command, and spared some to make a sacrifice to God. You can read the chapter in more detail, but here's an excerpt:
"But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
But Samuel replied, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:20-22)
In the light if this chapter, if you were to pick one over the other, you would have to pick obedience. I would agree with the statement made; it is far greater (better) to be obedient than to make sacrifices.
5 comments:
Depending on your level of obedience, you are sacrificing *something* (freedom, etc) to obey.
-- Catherine "tenthz"
It depends, but yes.
By sacrificing, you may not be obeying....
and I'm assuming we're speaking in pertinence to God.
Hm. Obedience can involve sacrifice?
(lj:mountainheather)
Obedience - doing what your told, or what is right.
Sacrifice - giving something up that has meaning to you.
I see what the others are saying, that they're not mutually exclusive. Obedience can involve sacrifice, but it doesn't have to. Sacrifice can be obedient, but, likewise, doesn't have to be.
You could frame the question like this:
Is it better for someone to be obedient to a cause all their life but never give anything up for it (make a sacrifice), or is it better for someone to be disobedient to that same cause all their life but make one huge sacrifice for it?
To say it like that, it's almost like the prodigal son story: Which son was more worthy--the one who stayed or the one who came back?
But that gives a biased picture.
We could also reframe the question this way:
Is is better for someone to give everything they have for something and stray sometimes, or is it better for someone to be consistently obedient but never give much.
Now it sounds like we're talking about a different story entirely. You have someone who is imperfect who is often doing the disobedient thing, but who's heart is in the right place, and then someone who is just going along with no real passion for anything, but always doing what they're told.
The difference is not in whether they were more with the obedience or the sacrifice... the difference is where their heart is. If you're going to be obedient, stick to the spirit of the law, not the letter. If you're going to make sacrifices, don't devalue them by hypocritically acting against in everyday life.
Obedience is no better than sacrifice. Sacrifice is no better than obedience. I submit that what makes either of these actions good, bad, or indifferent is not the actions themselves, but the spirit in which they are mustered, and the specifics that surround them.
I'd be curious to see your thought process on the subject.
I think there is an interesting dialog between Samuel and Saul in 1 Samuel 15 that relates to this. The chapter explains how Saul was given a command by God to, "go attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them." As you may recall, Saul didn't carry out the command, and spared some to make a sacrifice to God. You can read the chapter in more detail, but here's an excerpt:
"But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
But Samuel replied, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:20-22)
In the light if this chapter, if you were to pick one over the other, you would have to pick obedience. I would agree with the statement made; it is far greater (better) to be obedient than to make sacrifices.
Post a Comment