Its the last part where your post, and religion in general always goes wrong for me: only Jesus can be the catalyst for improving yourself. Unfortunately I find that utterly unpalatable; I am not living in hell, I have problems like the faithful, but I dont ask a magic man in the sky to solve the problems for me, I go through the process of living (or death (entropy)) and things move on.
I sincerely hope this comment isnt offensive to anyone, its not my intent. I have met some wonderful people of faith, and some wonderful people with no faith, the only difference is the faithful attribute everything good they have to the devine.
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I'm with you, Jesus isn't the only catalyst for improving yourself. But, that's not what he's about. Jesus doesn't exist for us. He exists for him and his glory. So, the very concept of evaluating him on the basis of what he can do for us is backwards.
He does love us and wants us to be successful, but he wants us to serve him. Through that process we are improved, perhaps not in a situational sense, but in a spiritual and emotional sense.
'he wants us to serve him' I find to be very worrying, why would he want that? If you are a parent, do you want your children to serve you? I think not. You want your children to flourish and be happy, and if you really love them, then whichever path leads to their flourishing is just fine. Perhaps as a parent you want them to be a scientist, but they choose to become a lay clergyman, does that matter so long as they are following their own path, can be happy and live a fulfilled life?
Perhaps you fail to see the gravity of who we're talking about. Jesus is God. God must be worshipped and served. He commands it because he is the only One who deserves it.
Your analogy is correct to a certain extent because God identifies with us a Father and therefore the reason we want our children to succeed is because he imprinted that on us from his own character. But, primarily he is God, which means he is ultimate authority.
As a parent, I am authority for my children. If they disobey, I discipline because I love them too much to see them go wrong. But, I don't deserve their worship, because I am only their secondary authority. God deserves their worship and obedience as their primary authority and he delegates some of his authority to us as parents and leaders in society.
Bottom line: Jesus is God and God deserves worship. Regardless of what he does for you, he deserves worship because of who he is.
But if I dont worship him that should be ok with him, because if he really can see into my thoughts he knows its not a malicious or rebellious act. He knows I try to be a good person and the remorse I have when I hurt others.
Also, this life is essentially an audition for a position in the Lord's coming government and membership in His spiritual family. He needs people He can trust in those positions of responsibility. Unwillingness to enthusiastically acknowledge his authority is a key indicator that you can't be trusted with bigger things.
Perhaps you will enjoy a future discussion on exactly that matter... stay tuned.
@scalextrix That would work if he was flawed like we are. He's forgiving but only to the repentant. God cannot tolerate one tiny shred of sin or disobedience because He is holy. For him to permit sin would be unjust and He would cease to be God. From the moment we make our first mistake we're screwed.
People say, "but God is loving"! Which is true. But, just because God is love doesn't mean that trumps His other attributes like justice and holines.
The solution then was to send a worthy substitute. That's who Jesus is. The only fully human, fully God being to ever walk this planet. He kept the whole law and never once sinned before God. Therefore, God allowed him to be the substitute for our sin. If you want to talk about injustice, an innocent God-man died to pay your right penalty for disobeying God.
So, no, he's not ok with you just trying your best. He has suffered the ultimate injustice on your behalf to satisfy His wrath for your sin. You deserve that wrath. I deserve that wrath. Without Christ, we will all be subject to the eternal wrath of God.