It is my hope that you clicked on this article thinking that you would enjoy an earful of arguments for why every chief Executive Officer of a corporation is evil. You may have anticipated arguments for why the workers should own the means of production or why we should “eat the rich,” as it were. Maybe you were hoping to hear the forbidden word that starts with “E” and rhymes with the patch of grass in the front outside your home. I hate to disappoint you, but I am addressing a different crowd of CEOs. I write this article to the Christians out there who only make it to church or Mass on Christmas and Easter, only — hence CEO.
This is by no means an uncommon practice among many Christians. I believe it is wholly unacceptable to demonize other people for their religious beliefs and how they practice their respective faith traditions. It is completely unproductive and simply inexcusable. With this said, I will begin to systematically criticize and denigrate these CEOs.
Just kidding.
But I do want to give this crowd of people, whoever and wherever they are, another, perhaps more compelling perspective. Obviously, the third commandment is to “keep holy the Sabbath,” which in Christian terms, means go to church or Mass on Sunday. Pretty simple, right? Well, not really. I would argue that the mindset shift that needs to occur is this: thinking about your religion less as a strict set of rules and regulations and more as an active, dynamic relationship.
Imagine your relationship with God as you would a very close friend. How could you maintain a functioning, thriving relationship with a friend if you do not talk, ever, to him or her? How could you maintain a functioning, thriving relationship with a friend if you do not spend with him or her, ever? The bilateral relationship in a friendship holds true for your relationship with God: it’s a two-way road.
Now, you would be more inclined to do something for or listen to the advice of someone you trust or have a strong relationship with. This is common sense. Think of the favors or requests that your serious relationships in your life have asked of you. In a romantic relationship, your partner asks you to do something, and you do it to make your partner happy. Simple. If your parents ask you to do something, yes, there is some sort of filial obligation given that they literally brought you into the world, but it would not be unreasonable to say that you do things for your parents to make them happy, since you love them — I hope.
Let’s place this very, very simple framework onto the Christian life. Let’s say that you actually pursue a friendship with God. You might visit him to chat about your day. You might tell him about things you saw during the day that reminded you of him. You could tell him what makes you happy and what pisses you off. You would do all the things friends do, since you are friends. It is truly not rocket science.
And what would follow is this. You would feel more inclined to do things that He asks of you since you have built up this really great relationship with Him, and you wish to make him happy, in the same way that you want to do right by your actual friends. Then, the obligation to go to church or Mass every Sunday ceases to seem like an obligation and appears to be more like a privilege, that you get to visit and spend time with your dear friend. Moreover, every other thing he asks you to do seems less like a bunch of rules and regulations but rather a set of opportunities to make Him, God, happy.
Though the shift in mindset that I propose seems ridiculously simplistic and maybe even nonsensical, I would argue that most people, especially CEOs, overlook this simple reality. If you lack the interior desire for God, then the exterior rules and obligations and going-through-the-motion actions are useless, completely. And the way you begin to cultivate that interior desire is by just talking to God, in the exact same way you cultivate a friendship with someone else by just talking to them. Like I said, this is seriously not that complicated.
Happy Easter, everyone.
Jonah Tran is a senior at Notre Dame studying finance and classics. He prides himself on sarcasm and never surrendering. You can file complaints to Jonah by email at jtran5@nd.edu.
