When a religious person kneels and bows before God, it appears to be an act of extreme obedience. However, the plea that follows—”Save me”—is, in fact, a powerful demand that infringes upon divine sovereignty. If an omniscient and omnipotent God is leading all things toward a greater good, a human should not dare to question that plan or demand a specific correction (salvation). Yet, behind the mask of submission, the religious are essentially issuing orders to God: “Do not send me to hell” or “Pull me out of this suffering.” This is not obedience; it is the arrogance of demoting God to a “complaint-handler” who must act for the sake of one’s personal comfort.
Transactional Faith: Shopping for Salvation with Obedience as Collateral
The submission spoken of by the religious is almost always “conditional submission.” It is predicated on an invisible contract: “I will humble myself and praise You; in return, You must save me.” If one truly acknowledged God as the Absolute, they should be moved by His “perfect will” even if He chose to discard them or leave them in agony. But if God were to declare, “You shall not be saved,” how many of them would remain submissive and continue their praise? Most would immediately feel betrayed or doubt God’s justice. Ultimately, their submission is merely the currency paid to purchase salvation, not a voluntary surrender to divine greatness.
The Narrative of Insubordination: Daring to Correct Divine Judgment
Hidden within the request to “be saved” is the audacious intent to say: “God’s current judgment is not to my liking, so change it to match my desires.” While a person’s suffering might be fitting within the cosmic order from God’s perspective, the human defines it as “misfortune” through their narrow lens and demands a revision. This is equivalent to a creation giving “constructive feedback” to the Creator, telling Him His design is flawed and must be fixed. Thus, the moment a religious person appears most devout—the moment of earnest prayer—is, paradoxically, the moment of insubordination, where they distrust divine omnipotence and place their own desires above God.
Closing Thoughts
Logically, perfect submission should manifest as “silence without demands.” However, if that were the case, the business of religion could not exist. If there is nothing to ask of God, there is no reason to pray; and without prayer, the intimate (or servile) connection between God and man is severed.
Religion teaches man that he is “nothing,” yet simultaneously inflates his ego by suggesting that his prayers can “move the heart of God.” This contradiction allows humans to behave like slaves while simultaneously acting as if they are the protagonists of the universe.
The attitude of daring to demand salvation from God arises not because they believe in God, but because they love themselves so intensely. The eeriness of this scene stems from witnessing a persistent, massive human selfishness packaged in the language of humility. One who truly understands submission asks nothing and seeks nothing from God; they simply row across the vast ocean given to them in silence. Perhaps the act of taking full responsibility for one’s freedom is much closer to a “divine will” than any form of fake submission.
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