Of Course

I once saw a politician being interviewed on a talk show.  One of the cast of thousands that line up every four years.  The interviewer asked them what their favorite book was.  Their response was, "Well, of course the Bible..." and then went on to include other books.  I was left with the distinct feeling that he felt that "The Bible" was the answer he was required to give in this situation, but he would rather talk about something else.

Of Course.  Google defines the phrase as being used to introduce an idea that should be obvious or expected.  Of course.  Now if you are a politician, certain things are expected of you.  Giving an unexpected answer that is not received well gets you on the news and allows your opponents to make hay with it.  So we get the cookie cutter answers to questions.   Of course.

So often we get the of course answer to our questions and conversations.  Not just from politicians running for office, but from friends, neighbors and relatives that just don't want to quarrel.  I think that this happens for two reasons.  1. Arguments can become heated and no one wants to create a scene, 2. The odds that we will actually change someone's mind about an issue is about zero.  I think that the level of discourse in our society would improve if we could say to each other, "I tend to disagree with you on this issue, but I respect you so I would like to hear why you feel that way."  But of course, I could be wrong.

I think the greatest danger is when we give ourselves the expected, "Of Course" type of answer.  Of course my family is more important that my job.  Of course buying things won't fill a hole in my life.  Of course i need to pray over decisions in my life.  Of course I need to be sensitive to the whispers of the Holy Spirit.  Of course God's will for me is better than any thing that I could come up with on our own.  Of course.

There are certain Christian principles that can be accepted to a point that we never check to see if our lives actually look like this principle that we think is obvious or expected.  Does our life look like we are following the guidance of the Holy Spirit?  Do we make decisions through prayerful consideration?  Do we really act like we trust God's will over our own.  We would all like to say "Of Course" but can we really?

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.

We need to be honest with ourselves.  We need to check our expected answers and decide if we are really living the kind of life that we think should be the obvious way to live.