"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'" Matthew 16:24
Hi,
A while back, a friend made a general statement saying all Christians are alike. She did not mean any ill by it, in fact her perspective of Christians was a rather positive one, but it did raise an uncomfortable point of thought for me. Do we lose our identity in our pursuit of God? Afterall, Matthew 16:24 appears to paints a stark picture of blind obedience and the self denial. What exactly DO we lose when we follow Christ? This is not a question of doubt but one of faith, as by counting the cost to us in this divine transaction we get a feel for the worth of what we gain.
I was greatly helped in this by the writings of Oswald Chambers, who made a brilliant distinction between "individuality" and "personality." The former refers to the ego: Our sense of self, and desire for autonomy and uniqueness. The latter refers to who we are: Our quirks, histories, humour, character, values, etc. There is more going on here than mere semantics, the startling distinction he drew was that individuality craves after isolation whereas personality thrives on - , is shaped by - , and can only exist within the context of social interaction. This we retain in our relationship to God; what we lose is individuality. What we put to death in the waters of baptism is our sinful desire for autonomy.
How we CHAFE at that! We naturally recoil against any demands for even partial surrender to our rights to self governance. Most of my arguments can be boiled down to people asking me to give up an opinion of some sort and adopt theirs. Now, If a call to partial surrender leads to so much anger and conflict in our lives, how much more difficult is it to truly surrender completely to God and fully deny ourselves (in fact, it is humanly impossible without the aid of the Spirit). So often we try to enter into relationship with Christ while effectively maintaining that we are our own gods. That part of us needs to die in order to gain Christ. And he is worth that sacrifice! If he is what we gain in losing our ego, then we walk away the richer for the bargain.
So while there is a loss of self-based identity that takes place, there is the gaining of a new God-based identity that is still as unique as our own thumbprints. We lose our individuality but we gain a God who relates to us in the context of our individual personality. It is my understanding that Edward would continue to crack beef jokes in heaven even as my will becomes perfectly merged with God's will, this is profound and praiseworthy truth.
Have a happy Wednesday!
Edward
"I and the Father are one." John10:30.
"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24
Chinese cover of Lady Gaga, sung by old peepos (thanks Grace!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF5WYaoWXI4&feature=youtu.be
I think God loves variety and individuality. It's when individuality becomes an "idol," or something people prioritize over God's work that it becomes an hinderance. To deny ourselves is to no longer live for ourselves but for God, making sacrifices every day to either praise Him or do something to glorify Him. I think it's like when couples have children, they know they will have to make sacrifices to prioritize the children over themselves. So it's a good thing to not be totally self serving or selfish. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, spleen :)
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