Skip to main content

Authentic Selves?


For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (II Corinthians 5:14-15)
                The world teaches us that in order to be fully alive, we must be authentic, we must seek and find personal fulfillment in whatever speaks to us. If you feel it, it must be true and you and therefore to deny it is evil… as long as the it in question has been approved by the world. And, because those who feel things that haven’t been approved by the world can be identified as an oppressed minority, the range of things that the world approves seems to be growing quickly. 
               It shouldn’t be a surprise that Scripture teaches against this. I can’t think of many religions that don’t have some “thou shalt nots” that the world doesn’t reject. As I’ve said before, at least in their laws of human interaction, most religions work within rules that have been seen to work. In addressing how Jews and Christians are to interact with people, how could the rules be vastly different? And, as Jesus warned us that the world hated Him, and would hate his followers as well, how could we not expect the world to respond badly to anything we say? We declare its guilt
               Today’s passage is an example of that. The world says, “Be your authentic self. If it feels right to you, you must do it because to do otherwise is hating yourself. Love yourself by giving yourself everything you want, everything you believe you deserve to have, and more.” Christians are told, “Don’t live for yourself. Live for Christ.” It doesn’t matter how I feel. It doesn’t matter how you feel. In fact, most of those feelings, and most of those “authentic” selves we hold on to so tightly are precisely the chains that hold us in bondage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more