Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
The speaker rejects two “ditches”: (a) obedience without admiration (the “miserable life” cartoon), and (b) admiration without obedience (the “pig wallowing in the mire” image); where do you see your own drift toward one ditch, and what would it look like to move toward the “third way” he describes—“earnestly… put their lives into becoming like him”?
Another way to ask: Do you lean more toward obeying without loving God, or loving the idea of God without obeying, and what would it look like for you to choose the “third way” of truly becoming like Him?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
According to the speaker, drifting into either ditch means your life becomes either burdened rule-keeping or empty religious talk; the “third way” is to love and admire God like a cared-for child and then deliberately choose obedience that imitates Him, especially in forgiveness and love.
- Ditch (a): without admiration, commandments become “just going to be a chore,” and life becomes “miserable,” like carrying church “as a load on your back.”
- He says the problem isn’t obedience itself, but obeying while not believing “God loves me… this is the best thing for me.”
- Ditch (b): claiming admiration without imitation is pictured as “the pig wallowing in the mire,” and he says God isn’t after “a world of pigs” but obedient children.
- He insists it’s a “false dichotomy… neither one,” and describes the third way: “imitators of God like dear children who love him and admire him and earnestly… put their lives into becoming like him.”
- He adds this requires choices: not waiting for a mystical change, but “choosing to listen… lay down our will… be taught by him.”