Obligation: what we ought to do often motivated by duty or law. Desire: what we want to do often motivated by our deepest internal longings. Obligation engages the mind; desire engages the heart.
I think often about these two concepts that are at times pitted against each other and other times are linked together. When I became a Christian, I camped out heavily in the arena of obligation. I will read my Bible, attend church, memorize scripture, etc. because it is what I am supposed to do. I will not drink, curse, etc. because it's not what I am supposed to do. The danger in this train of thought or motivation is that it can quickly lead to a legalism that justifies a person through actions or inaction. It can also lead to pride when we are good moralists and despair when we fail. Swinging to the other end of the pendulum, many try so hard to avoid legalism that they abuse grace. A false form of Christianity is justified by the notion that God judges the heart and isn't impressed with the fact that I've had two "quiet times" every day for the past 3 years and have memorized 7 books of the Bible. While this is true, it doesn't condone the abuse of freedom offered by grace in order to indulge in destructive desire. Neither is the gospel message of Christianity.
Tim Keller communicates this concept as good as anyone I've heard when he says, “The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion - it is something else altogether. Religion makes law and moral obedience a means of salvation, while irreligion makes the individual a law to him - or herself. The gospel, however, is that Jesus takes the law of God so seriously that He paid the penalty of disobedience, so we can be saved by sheer grace.” (For more on this perspective, check out "Prodigal God.")
Where is the balance between obligation and desire?
Motivation that stems from a sense of obligation is not in and of itself a bad motivation. This seems to be the premise of spiritual disciplines. There are many times we do not want to give, serve, pray, gather, etc. and yet we can train ourselves to do so as an act of faith-fueled obedience believing that if God has asked us to do so, they must be for His glory and our good. There is also a sense that our mind can mold our hearts. For example, if we have disciplined ourselves to spend regular time in God's word because we know we should, that the living and active nature of His word can penetrate our heart and change our desires.
The problem is that mental motivation is a shallow motivation. If mental motivation doesn't engage our heart, then it will lose its power when our self-control runs out, and we decide that our attention and affection are better directed at something or someone else more satisfying. Heart motivation is much deeper and long lasting.
A wise friend once described "worship" as that which captures both our mind's attention and our heart's affections. So what are you worshiping? What do you spend the most time thinking about? What captures your affections and longings? For the Christian, the height of God's holiness, the depth of our sin, and the breadth of God's redemption in Christ should be the primary captor of our attention and affection.
Keep in mind that our desires consistently vacillate between the flesh (self) and the Spirit (God). For the Christian, God has given us His Spirit to counsel us and direct us, but we have to choose to follow His guidance. Galatians 5 and Romans 8 provide some great teaching on this battle between the flesh and the Spirit.
Regarding obligation versus desire, the best practical example I can offer comes from the dynamics within the marriage relationship. Within almost all traditional wedding vows is the promise to love and cherish your partner. Those are big, heavy words laden with sacrifice and service for your partner. The problem is that our natural desire is for ourselves; we are selfish people. If we are motivated simply by head knowledge (this is what I know about how I should treat my spouse), then many times our care and service will be perfunctory. We will often look to be paid back for our actions and sacrifice. We accommodate our spouse for what we can gain in return. We will many times lack a genuineness and sincerity in how we treat our spouse. But if we are motivated by the gospel that has reached past our mind and into our hearts, then we will see the example Christ set before us (Philippians 2:5-8 provides a good synopsis). Being humbled by Christ's work for us, we will seek to imitate his example to our spouse not merely out of obligation, but out of a joy grateful for the opportunity to put on display the example of Christ. Our primary concern is not whether our sacrifice is noticed and reciprocated by our spouse, but whether we are pleasing the Lord and honoring Him in how we fulfill our God ordained role as husband and wife.
Interesting to note, Paul says in Romans 8 that Spirit-led desires spring from a mind set on the Spirit. Obligation and desire are not mutually exclusive, but instead work hand in hand in more of a dance. May we be disciplined to think about the gospel, and may that not only capture our mind's attention, but also our heart's affection.
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