What Would Rommel Do?

As someone with a degree in theology, I have a lot of Jesusy books. Most of them are very good, but some of them are quite bad.

A very popular form of Christian Literature is the devotional - books that often provide a text of Scripture and/or some piece of Jesusy wisdom in short snippets that are easy to digest. I have a daily devotional of passages from C.S. Lewis that I absolutely love (and that has also given me a near encylopedic knowledge of much of his more popular work). But I dislike the majority of them. The arbitrarily snipped out Bible verses are a particular peeve of mine, since it runs against the way I think the Bible should be read. But the vast majority of them are not comically bad enough that I would write something about them.

Enter God's Little Devotional Book (for Men)

I received this book a while back as a gift. I'm sure that whoever gave it to me only had the best intentions. But it is not a good book.

First of all, what a horrible title. As if this is the devotional book that God reads every morning. Or maybe since this is God's little devotional book, this is the book that he reads when he's on vacation and didn't want to pack the larger text. God likes to travel light. If at all possible, He always tries to avoid checking any baggage. But He's also careful to respect the other passengers and not try to cram too much into the overhead compartment.

My second problem with the title is that too much of Christian life gets divided into gender categories. I feel like the Church often still operates as if it's Middle School Health Class and we're discussing reproduction. Practically every Bible Study I was ever in during college was a Men's Bible Study. That had a lot of faults. It really narrowed the concerns that we had, and we spent most of the time discussing women and when we would get married, and how to control our out-of-control lustiness. For a culture that places so much emphasis on finding the right person and getting married and having kids and the perfect family, I don't see how it's very helpful to keep both sides of the gender line apart so that they can stew in their own anxieties. Or maybe that's the only way to keep from having a weird Jesusy orgy break out.

This devotional for men also puts a great deal of stress on how to be Jesusy and succeed in the world of business (two things that I don't see as particularly linked and should probably more than often be in opposition). So I shudder at the idea of what the devotional book for women might contain. Although come to think of it, I can get angry at the male gender bias as well. Screw you. Maybe Jesus wants me to be a stay-at-home Dad. I think I could do a lot worse.

Anyways, the jaw-dropping hallmark of this particular book cements my unwillingness to take anything it says seriously. (And I don't mind quoting from it without permission, as it is truly horrible).

On one page there is a pithy statement and a Bible quote:

Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23 NIV

And then on the ensuing page it recounts the following:

His teachers considered him to be a lazy student. One said he was convinced he would never amount to anything. Another said, "If Rommel ever hands in a dictation without a mistake we'll hire a band and go off for a day in the country."
That was all the incentive young Rommel needed. He immediately sat up, paid attention, and turned in a dictation without one single error. He obviously could do the work if he wanted to and if there was sufficient enticement to get him to make the effort! When the promised award was not forthcoming, however, Rommel fell back into his old ways.
Later in life Rommel did find a cause he could believe in. It fired his ambition to the extent that he was filled with driving energy, rose above the ranks, and eventually gained a reputation as one of the ablest military men in the world. Marshal Rommel became known as the "Desert Fox", one of Germany's foremost heroes in World War II.
Each person is motivated differently. For most people, the deepest motivation lies in their faith. However, the outcome of motivation is universal: It sparks the actions which will change your dreams into reality.

So...

This particular devotion starts with a quote from Colossians. And frankly, it's probably not the best quote to just yank out of context, because it's a part of one of the "Household Rules" texts - "wives, obey your husbands" and what-not. Considering the patriarchal society in which the Bible was written, this is precisely the sort of text that I think one should only draw from with the utomost care. This is a particular area where it seems that Scripture's guidance should be taken with more than just one grain of salt. I don't think that these texts are without significance, but I do think that they should come with labels saying "Handle with Extreme Care."

This particular quote comes from a handful of verses specifically directed to slaves or servants (the word in Greek can mean either). So, yeah, another sign that this shouldn't be presented to the modern reader without a great deal of context and interpretation.

And then what does this book do with that quote?

Well, first there's an insinuation that it's cool to only really be motivated by people harshing on you. What matters is that you were motivated. And then of course Rommel finds an even better cause (The Nazi Party and Hitler's desire to rule the world and cleanse it of everyone who doesn't look like him) and, yay, he's motivated. And you know what, he's motivated so much that he becomes one of Hitler's top generals! Hurray! So remember that each person is motivated differently, but apparently motivation is some Good in its own right, because at least it means that you're getting something done. So make sure that you're motivated, because only then can your dreams become a reality. Especially if your dream is to kill lots and lots of people.

(sigh)

Apparently, God should find a different devotional.