Self-Interest

We’re going to return to the same text that we looked at last week. But this week we’re going look at it from a different angle. We’re going to consider an assumption that Jesus makes when He offers this promise. Understanding Jesus’ assumption will help us understand ourselves and how we can do a good job of making our way through this life. So, first let me read again Jesus’ offered promise.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

So, what is Jesus doing here? He is, in effect, telling the crowds that if they sense a need, what He pictures as ‘thirst’, they should come to Him so that He can meet that need, so that they will no longer be thirsty. Now, that appeal makes no sense unless certain other things are also true. So, first of all, Jesus recognizes that people want their needs met. They want to do good to themselves. We are motivated by self-interest. Jesus knows that. He goes further though, when He makes this offer. In making the offer He assumes that being motivated by self-interest is good and proper. It’s okay to want to have your needs met. It’s okay to want good things to come your way. It’s okay to say, ‘I’m thirsty. I don’t want to be thirsty. I want someone to fix that so that I no longer feel this need.’

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me …

Now, this is a big deal. And it’s a big deal for two different reasons. First, there are too many who think that being a faithful Christian has nothing to do with getting their needs and wants taken care of. According to these folk, the goal is to focus on others and their needs and to ignore your own. Self-effacement. Thinking about doing yourself some good is labeled as selfish, and that is something that good Christians aren’t supposed to do. But Jesus thinks otherwise. In making this promise He is directly appealing to a person’s desire to enjoy what is good and to avoid what is unpleasant. So, how can that be wrong? There is a second and opposite problem. These are the folk who think that being a Christian is simply a matter of having all their desires met, completely met, here. ‘After all, Jesus has come to take care of our thirst for more.’ So, the question is always, ‘So, what else do I want to have? What else will I have Jesus give me?’ But in response to this error it needs to be said that while Jesus did come to meet needs and wants, there is a right way to understand that and to pursue it.

And that lays out what I want to deal with today. Self-interest is okay. Jesus says so. But there is a right way to pursue it. What is that right way? What does doing yourself some good look like? That’s the question that I want to answer this morning.

So, let’s begin. First, let me show you that being motivated by self-interest is clearly biblical. Consider being blessed. God promises to bless those who are faithful to Him, and He does that too many times to count. God promises to bless. So, think about the Beatitudes where Jesus begins each by saying, ‘Blessed are ...’  Jesus is here teaching the people, ‘If you develop some particular character trait like meekness, mourning over sin or purity of heart, the Father will act to do good to you. He will make sure that you will inherit the earth; you will be comforted; you will see God.’ Jesus is encouraging certain character traits by promising blessing, by promising that good will result. It’s an appeal to self-interest.

Another good example comes from Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The psalmist is encouraging his readers to act in a certain way, to avoid certain habits of evil people and to embrace a different habit, meditating on God’s Law. How does he encourage them to do this? He tells them that their lives will be better if they do. They will be blessed. How will they be blessed?  He describes the blessing in terms of a picture of a flourishing tree. What is this but an appeal to self-interest.

There is also something else here that is not obvious in our translation. There are two words in Hebrew that are translated ‘blessed’. One stresses the idea of benefit. But that’s not the one used here. This word emphasizes something different. The stress with this word is on happiness. So, the psalmist is saying, ‘Do you want to be happy? Is that your motivation? Good. Then meditate on God’s Law.’

And isn’t it interesting that even our “stodgy” Westminster Standards echo the same idea.

Q: What is man’s chief end?

A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

That’s one chief end or goal. It’s not ‘give yourself to glorifying God first and then if there is anything left over you can enjoy your life also’. Enjoying life is a reason for living. It is why you were created. So, even those supposedly bland and stoic Puritans understood self-interest as a good and proper motive.

So, being motivated by the desire to do yourself good is a fine and biblical way of following Jesus. But even as I say that, something feels wrong, no? It still feels selfish, and that can’t be fine and biblical. And the fact of the matter is that pursuing self-interest can be selfish and, as I mentioned, there are many who do pursue it selfishly and that certainly isn’t fine and biblical. So, where’s the problem?

The problem is that we don’t do a very good job of being motivated by self-interest. That is, we don’t do a very good job of pursuing our best self-interests. It’s just a fact that we all too often choose poorly when it comes to trying to do ourselves good. So, the solution is not that we should stop choosing in terms of our self-interest, but rather we should do that more wisely. We need to do a better job of being motivated by self-interest.

Consider a familiar statement by Jesus.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

So, if someone could gain the whole world that would be good, no? But what if doing that cost him his soul? In that case, he chose poorly. The grand prize for the Powerball lottery is something like 80 million dollars. Now, winning that might be interesting. It would certainly affect someone’s life. But would it be worth it if his life fell apart as a result? This isn’t theoretical. Remember Judas. Being given 30 pieces of silver - and whatever that meant in dollars it surely was lots more than Judas had seen before - would be a good thing. But Judas didn’t realize that choosing that route to happiness also included ending up in hell. He chose poorly.

Now, how shall we label that sort of choosing? One good label would be ‘short-sighted’. Short-sighted folk only look at the near term without considering the larger picture. Judas didn’t consider how his choice would affect his eternity. Is Judas happy now? Beware of being short-sighted when it comes to pursuing your self-interest.

There is another label that we might use to describe this sort of choosing. Someone who chooses in this way has expectations that are too low. His hopes and dreams are too small. Will 30 pieces of silver give lasting happiness? Will winning even just a part of the Powerball prize solve the problems that affect life the most? Having millions will not get you real friends who love you just because. It will not rescue you from whatever it is that will cause your death. It will not deal with those sins that make your life so very difficult. There are bigger things to dream about and to long for. We should have large expectations, very large expectations and desires and dreams. Don’t settle. Dream big. Most people, these days, settle for less than the best. They settle for money, success and comfort. They choose poorly.

Behind the poor choices of so many is something more basic. And this has to do with who God is.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

This is the first temptation ever, and it has lessons for us about how Satan works his evil. So, what was Satan getting at when he said,

You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

He was attacking God’s character. He was telling Eve that by denying her that fruit God was keeping something good from her. He was denying her the ability to know good and evil just as God knew it. ‘Eve, this God doesn’t have your best interests at heart. He’s keeping the good stuff from you.’

Then, Eve does some research on her own.

… the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise …

There were some really good things about that fruit, things that would make her life work so much better. So, in the hope of advancing her self-interest, she took and she ate. Why? She agreed with Satan’s slander about God’s character and His intentions for Eve. She believed his lies.

And that gets us to the Gospel. Though we deserve none of this, the Father loves us, His children, with an awesome love that is filled with deep affection and the heartfelt desire to see us happy, really happy. So, when it comes to wisely pursuing our self-interest, wisely pursuing our best interests, it all boils down to what we think about God’s character. Is He for us? Does He want us happy? Or should we accept Satan’s slander? Whom shall we believe? Life is filled with decisions that turn on these kinds of questions.

It’s helpful here to consider the rich, young ruler. He comes to Jesus asking what he must do to be saved. After a little sparring, Jesus confronts him with an answer he was not expecting.

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Notice the dynamics here. Jesus tells this young man to give away all that he owns. Remember, he was a rich young ruler. Does giving everything away seem to be in his own best interests? Does it make sense for this man to chuck it all and begin a life of poverty? Where’s the pursuit of self-interest in that? That sounds like a call to self-denial. Who wants that, either back then or today? But there are some things that you must see. Jesus’ motivation in saying these things is that He loved this young man. This was not a cold and sterile sort of love. Remember that Jesus was willing to suffer hell for this man if he would follow Him. Jesus wanted him to be happy. And that shows in what Jesus offers him. First, he offers this man Himself. ‘Come, follow Me.’ What do you think it would have been like for this young man to walk with Jesus, to see His astounding miracles, to watch Him get those Pharisees at every turn, to listen as wisdom dripped from His lips? Imagine what it would have been like to have his way of thinking and living completely turned right side up. Isn’t that the foundation of a lasting happiness? He would have gotten to know Jesus and to be blessed by Him. But even that isn’t enough for Jesus to give this man. What else does He tell him? ‘You will have treasure in heaven.’  Jesus offers good things for this life and then better things for the next: ‘treasure in heaven’. What do you suppose Jesus meant by that? Could it be worth giving away all you own?

Jesus appeals to the man’s self-interest. Now, it’s up to him to decide. Will he be short-sighted? Will he settle for less, for piles of money? Or will he trust Jesus and conclude that Jesus’ intentions for him are good? Will he choose wisely when it comes to his own self-interest? Will he choose Jesus and those promised treasures? That man was at a crisis point. And that’s when what a person really believes becomes obvious. He has to choose and his choice will reveal his heart. It will reveal what he thinks about Jesus’ offer. It will reveal whether he believes Jesus or Satan. It will reveal whether he really has his own best interests at heart.

I think that it is clear how all of this speaks to each of you. Jesus calls you away from short-sighted choosing, from having expectations that are far too low. He calls you to dream big, to expect treasures. But to do that you will have to trust Him. He will call you to ‘go, sell all that you have’ - or something like that. But bear in mind what those who do that will get. They will get Him. Those who follow Jesus get to enjoy Jesus. That’s for now. And who knows what ‘treasure in heaven’ will include. I’m pretty sure that it will go light years beyond what we expect. But all of this raises the question of what you think of His character. Is He really ‘for you’? Is it possible that He will give you more to make up for and exceed what He calls you to give up? Can He make you happy, even in this life, after you get rid of whatever it is He calls you to jettison? What will you believe? Jesus’ claims or Satan’s slanders?

You all know my opinion of the current American idea of a good life. But now I have another reason to despise it. Not only is it in competition with Jesus, with its own call of ‘Follow me’, it also encourages expectations that are short-sighted and way too low. Jesus offers more. Don’t settle. Dream big.

So, what do you do now? That’s always the money question, if I can put it that way. I have stumbled upon a new, favorite word. And that word is ‘piety’. It’s not a common word these days, which is quite significant. Piety is a warm, devout and very personal knowledge of God. It’s someone living, day by day, near to God’s heart even as, day by day, God lives near that person’s heart. It’s all about intimacy. As piety grows, trust grows. And trust grows because you know that He is really so very ‘for you’. And as trust grows, wisdom about pursuing self-interest grows. And as that wisdom leads to better and better choices, happiness grows. And that is a kind of happiness that the world knows nothing about. So, develop piety. Get to know your God. Do that for the sake of your own self-interest. That’s the best way to make Him look as good as He really is.