Carrot and Stick

It has been suggested (ad infinitum, ad nauseam) that Christianity (like all other religions) is a "carrot and stick" religion. The idea is simple. Be good. If you don't, you will go to hell (stick). If you do, you will go to heaven (carrot). Those who typically make this suggestion, in whatever words they choose, usually intend it in a disparaging way. "What a superficial way of looking at things! We should be above all that! My way of looking at life is much higher than that."

There are a couple of things that need to be said about this accusation. First, it is not true that Christianity teaches this. It is simply a lie. I can't sugar-coat it. It is directly contrary to the actual truth of what Christianity teaches. Christianity is predicated on the notion that no one is good enough to go to heaven. So "be good and you can avoid hell and go to heaven" is fundamentally incongruent with Christianity. Instead, Christianity teaches "We have all earned hell and nothing we can do on our own will change that. The possibility of heaven can only occur if someone else fixes our problem and that's what Jesus did when He died for us." There is absolutely no such thing in Christianity as "good enough" when it comes to avoiding hell or gaining heaven. Cannot happen. The message at the bottom rung of Christian doctrine is "saved by grace through faith in Christ; not of works."

That having been said, it would be equally nonsense to suggest that Christianity does not carry a "carrot and stick" aspect. It would be nonsense because everything in this life carries something like it. Human beings, like the rest of the beings on this planet, operate solely on two basic motivations: 1) Hope for gain, or 2) fear of loss. That's it. That's all. One is a carrot and one is a stick. Now, humans are not like every other creature on this planet in that they can operate on higher levels of those two basic motivations. In the earliest, least mature human, the primary operating motivation is just these. I will either try to obtain for myself that which I consider gain, or I will try to avoid that which I consider loss. As we mature, we might go to the next stage. It is more altruistic (although I question, in its true form, whether actual altruism exists). It says, "What will be gain to you or what will cause you loss?" It's the correct operation of any spouse, for instance. A good spouse won't operate simply on what they want; they will try to provide for their partner what the partner wants. A good spouse won't simply try to avoid personal loss; they will try to protect their partner from loss. Sometimes it happens that a person operating on this level of the motivational tree will take personal loss for the sake of another. That's considered heroic. We value that. Still, it is fundamentally a carrot and stick. I want your gain (carrot) and I want to avoid your loss (stick). We can go on to see a third level of this same motivation -- hope for God's gain and fear for God's loss -- but the point, I think, is made. All of life operates on the carrot and stick approach.

The suggestion is "What a superficial way of looking at things!" I would offer a counter suggestion: It's simply the way life operates. What the gain is or what the loss is may vary, but we always do what we do for a reason. In fact, the Bible suggests the same "carrot and stick" approach. It is first found in Genesis when God told Adam, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17). Stick. Israel was thick with the concept in Deuteronomy as God pronounced blessings and curses throughout -- blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Carrot and stick. In the New Testament, Jesus spoke about the torment of those who died in their sin and the eternal life of those who believed (e.g. Matt. 25:36). Carrot and stick. Paul sprinkles throughout his epistles the promise of reward for those who are faithful. Others, on the other hand, "will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction" (2 Thess. 1:9). Carrot and stick.

God has chosen to operate, in one dimension of His relationship with humans, in terms of blessings or cursings, gain or loss, carrot or stick. While Christianity does not teach that we are saved by being good, it would be foolish to suggest that this dimension doesn't exist. All of life on this planet has this dimension. Sometimes the effect is direct; sometimes it is indirect. The effect, however, is ever-present and denying it even for those who operate outside of a Christian world view would be dishonest. The only real question is what gain or loss will motivate you?