There was a knock on the door. I hesitated, because usually a knock on the door in the middle of the afternoon is one of the following:

1. Someone selling something, like security systems, girl scout cookies, makeup, you name it.

2. Neighborhood kids wanting to know if our kids can come out and play.

3. Someone wanting to share their religion with me through witness.

I get most uncomfortable with that last one. It’s easy enough to say, “No thanks we don’t need any” or “Not today, maybe tomorrow” but I find it more difficult finding the right words for someone who is going door to door selling salvation. I’ve never been a fan of banging on doors and sharing religion, even if its the Gospel. My personal belief is that most people won’t and don’t respond well to having religion served up on their front porch. I feel like there are 100 more effective ways to “share the good news.”

That being said, some religions actively orchestrate this sort of activity. Heck, my church back home (southern baptist congregation) has always been committed to canvassing the neighborhood in this fashion. But it’s just not for me.

So, I opened the door. And of course, it was door #3: witnessing. As I was standing there, listening to the pitch, I was surprised by my reaction. Usually, I find the fastest way to close the door. This time I actually engaged in a conversation.

There were two women on my steps. One was there just to watch, evidently. The other woman stuffed my hands full of newsletters, fliers and other promotional material, and posed a simple question to me. “Do you think if you followed God’s commandments you would be happy?”

Before thinking too much about it, I responded with “No, no I don’t.” She was taken aback, obviously prepared for two responses: “Yes” and “I don’t know”.  She quickly recovered and took me through several scriptures that were intended to convince me that I was wrong, that actually I would be happy if I followed God’s commandments.

I explained to her that, for me, it wasn’t as simple as that.I didn’t have the verse available at my fingertips, but my take on the situation is summed up very nicely in Ecclesiastes 12:12. There it says, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”For me, it’s not enough to “follow God’s commandments.” The first half of that verse says, “Fear God.” For me, that suggests what the state of your heart should be. I’ve talked a lot before about obedience vs. discipline. It’s not enough to follow the rules. You have to be following the rules in obedience.

There’s a scene in the movie The Break Up where Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn’s characters are arguing with each other about doing dishes. Vince finally concedes to Jennifer and says, “Fine, I’ll wash the dishes.” She replies, “I don’t want you to do the dishes. I want you to WANT to do the dishes.” 

If you’ve seen the movie, you know what happens next. This concept of wanting to do the dishes blows Vince’s mind and sends him spiraling out of control.That’s where I’m coming from. Will following God’s commandments make me happy? No, not unless I’m following them because I WANT to. My front door visitor didn’t respond as wildly as Vince did in the movie. But she did look at me absently, as if she didn’t really get where I was coming from.

After an awkward pause or two, the women finally said goodbye and asked if they could stop by again to follow up. I winced inside and said, “Sure.” After all, the chances are pretty good that my wife will open the door next time anyway!