is religion selfish?

I had an interesting philosophical discussion over lots of wine the other day with an atheist and an agnostic friend, both impressively well versed with Christianity and other religions.

There are many reasons why people have religion, but I figure it usually ties in to the meaning of life and what happens after death. In my very logical way, I deduce that if you believe there is a god, then you would want to figure out which is the true god. Clearly most religions, especially monotheistic ones, are mutually exclusive, and various religions offer different teachings about how you should live your life, and what happens after life. Many religions preach good works, others teach confession or faith, for example; the afterlife implications include entering heaven or hell, attaining enlightenment or being reincarnated as a cockroach. So whether the prospect is of damnation or reincarnation, wouldn't most people want to figure out which is the right god and religion?

My agnostic friend rejected this view as being too selfish. If there really is a god, a supreme being, shouldn't religion be about worshiping and glorifying this god, and developing your personal commune with this god, rather than looking out for your own selfish interests, he asked.

I was rather stumped at the point. Had I been so selfish all along? Too much wine perhaps. So we moved on to another interesting topic of charismatic churches which I will write about another time. But later that night, I think I sorted it out in my head.

At least for Christianity, we are taught that God first loved us, and because we had destroyed our own lives with sin, he suffered and died for us so that we could once again be saved and spend eternity with him in heaven. So is it selfish to want to go to heaven? On one level, I guess it is. But at the same time, we are not just satisfying our own desires, but also God's desire for us. The Bible's parable of the Prodigal Son is God's own analogy for his relationship with us. The prodigal son sinned greatly against his father, and when he was penniless and destitute he was too ashamed to return to his father's house. Would it have been selfish of him to want to re-enter the family mansion - yes, certainly. Yet in the end it was because his father loved him so much, he would not bear to see his son suffer and brought him home. It is natural to want salvation and eternity in heaven, yet we should rightly be ashamed of our human condition, and recognise that we are not worthy; but ultimately if we have the personal commune with God, we would also do it because we want to make him happy. And we would also do our utmost to bring all the other prodigal children home as well.