Good Monsters

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE?"

     When asked this question,  many people go off and describe who they want to be, or who they think they are.  If you are a Christian, you might answer this question with "I am a child of God," or "I am a sinner saved by grace."  The truth is, not many of us actually know for sure.  In reality, everybody in the world is a monster.  "But I can't be a monster," you say.  "I do my best to be a righteous or good person.  I help in my community, I go to church."  You may even be a Christian.  What does that make you?  At best, all it makes you is this:  a good monster.

     What is this good monster?  A good monster serves God with their words, but does not serve him in there actions.  A good monster does as much good as he can so that people with overlook the fact that he is a terrifying beast.  A good monster will try and get by without help from the only one who can truly help.  A good monster is miserable and exhausted.  Even though his efforts never fulfill themselves, he blindly continues to labor on.  But hey, at least he is better than the other monsters who aren't even trying, right? Right?

     Wrong.  

     No matter how hard you try, you will always be just a good monster.  Go to church every week, even every day: good monster.  Give your life on the mission field:  good monster.  Sell all you have and help the poor: good monster.  I think that all of us have been or are a good monster.  I know I have.  

     So how can one become more than just a good monster?  The answer is hard.  These are two things you have to realize before you achieve that goal:

1.  You are bored of all the things you know.

2.  You are a form of all the things you love.

     Some Christians - in fact, I would argue most Christians - are familiar with the feeling of going through the motions.  You go to church and you praise God and listen to a message.  Then you go home and live your life.  This is the point where you realize that you have a choice to make:  "Do I continue to live for God in public? Or do I go back to living the way everybody else does, except a little better, because I'm a Christian."  This is the make-it-or-break-it moment for a good monster.  Galatians 5:24-25 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." That is one way for a Christian to avoid becoming a good monster.  People should know that you are a child of the Good God all the time by the way that you act. You shouldn't give in to the boredom of living a double life inside and outside of church.  Allowing yourself to get bored of the things of God means that you must dig deeper into his Word, and really allow him to change your heart.  Then you will be able to more than just be a mediocre, bored good monster.

     Have you ever heard the term "You are what you eat"?  Well, the same is true with the things you care about.  You are a form of all the things you love.  So what do you love?  If you love money, your life will reflect that.  If you love a girl or a guy, you might try to be like them.  If you love yourself, it definitely shows.  I am definitely guilty.  So many of us are just so in love with ourselves, and that is the only thing that shows.  Christians and non Christians alike often do this.  They do good so that people will notice them, and bring glory away from God.  They may even think that they are doing good for God, but if His Spirit is not in them, then they are still just good monsters.  

     So to conclude, the ways that you can avoid getting stuck as a good monster are these:  To  serve God wherever you are, but not only that. You must also love God, so that you can be more like him.  Do everything for His glory, and not for your own.  Then you will be more than a monster.  You will be more than even a good monster.  You will truly be a follower and a lover of Christ. 

- Scott Hart

***

All the good monsters open their eyes
To see the wasteland where the home fires rise
And the people shouting, "Why, why, why?"

Do you know what you are?

All of the giants wake from their sleep

And roll outside of safety's keep
And the pain makes them feel so alive

Do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things we know

Do you know what you are?

Not all monsters are bad

But the ones who are good
Never do what they could
Never do what they should

All the good monsters rattle their chains
And dance around the open flames
And they make a lot of empty noise

While all of the bright eyes turn away
As if there wasn't anything to say
About the justice and the mystery

Do you know what you are?

We are bored of all the things we know
And we are forms of everything we love

Good won't show it's ugly face
Evil, won't you take your place?
Nothing ever changes by itself

And we are bored of all the things we know
Do you know what you are?

'Cause we are, we're so in love with ourselves
And we are forms of all the things we love

-"Good Monsters" by Jars of Clay.  You can get it on iTunes.