A camper gave me the pout lip and stated clearly for all that I was only doing this because I was getting paid. Upon informing him that I had to actually pay to work at the particular camp and had to work through some inconveniences to be there, he softened. We had a great conversation and week at camp. People are skeptical of good actions.

The beauty of the Gospel.
In the Gospel, we don’t have to good things. (Ducking under my virtual desk for things thrown at me.) We don’t have to earn a relationship with God. We don’t have to do good things so keep God happy with us. We don’t have to do good things because we are obligated to. (By this time some yeah, but seminary types are pulling out the long knives.) The beauty of the Gospel is that God is full satisfied with us because he is fully satisfied in the finish work of Jesus!

Because he could…
Let that sink in for a moment! Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross. God could have easily let the Earth just end in misery and not redemption. The beauty of the Gospel is God acted cause he could. We often coldly say that God’s character required it. This is one of the ways the Gospel is profoundly mysterious because it contains the interplay of perfect justice and perfect love. “Tear down this temple and I’ll rebuild it in three days!”

Because we can!
Why do we serve, because we can! We can serve because we don’t have to worry about what God thinks of us. We can serve because we’re free from the bondage of selfishness. Because of our security in Christ, Jesus enables us to serve. That is the power of the resurrection. As Paul puts it: “To live is Christ, but to die is gain.” When our identity and our security is in Christ it profoundly frees us to be a blessing to others.

The bottom line:
Nothing can separate us from the love of God. This core doctrine frees us to serve and be there for others.