Character traits, tendencies, and propensities. What makes us us? What makes you you? Is it ever wrong to just “be me”?
It’s going to look like this is a response to the question of homosexuality and marriage equality. Christians have been writing pithy status updates and comments that cause me to cringe with concern for the reputation of God. God is given not the glory but the blame, as it were. “That’s the way God made you.” A statement that is at one time both true and false, both misleading and entirely insufficient.
This is not a claim that “being gay” is a choice. I also cringe when that is thrown around with contempt. I can’t imagine the feelings of a Christian struggling with same-sex attraction in today’s culture. Everyone around you is saying you’re unnecessarily denying yourself. Mixed messages abound in the secular realm and the sacred.
This is not a post on the question of marriage equality. That is a much more complicated issue. I would rather just focus on the one claim as it pertains to all issues and think about the merits and implications of it. If you are not a Christian I would invite you to read on, but be aware that this is not written to you. What I will say is expressly for those claiming to have died with Christ and been raised with him, those who submit to the Lordship of Christ and seek nothing more than the glory of God in all things.
Did God make us this way?
At what point is God “responsible” for the human condition? We could recommend several articles and books on this issue, but what can we say about it? We are born with a death sentence, it’s just a matter of time. Some contribute to their own downfall by making poor choices, others seem to be simply born in the wrong location or era. No matter, we are all born with a condition that has a 100% mortality rate. Did God make us this way? Christians often try to shift the blame from God to humanity, rightly so. The claim then is that it is our sin that causes death. This is true, in a way, but it’s often misleading. It’s not our sin in a vacuum, it’s our rebellion against God and his subsequent outpouring of wrath on humanity.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18
This wrath is then evident in our own tendency and propensity to sin. For non-Christians, this is where the explanation ends, but for Christians we have hope from the previous verses.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
For us it is not the wrath of God, but rather the righteousness of God that is being revealed that comes from faith, faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. What then shall we say about the human condition that the Christian still finds himself in?
Made for a greater purpose
As Jesus walked along with his disciples they came across a man that had been blind from birth. This man did not choose his condition, he did nothing to contribute to it. In this instance Jesus gives us God’s reason for his blindness.
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:2-3
What follows is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. The healed man, after being pressed by the religious authorities, credits Jesus for his sight. They ridicule him and demand that instead of giving the glory to Jesus he should give the glory to God, ironic as that demand is. His simple statement of faith is that “I only know this, once I was blind, now I see.” He was born with a condition that in God’s purposes was to be healed in order to glorify Himself through Christ. That is one instance, but what if all of our indwelt sin, all of our physical, emotional, and spiritual conditions exist for that same purpose? What if we were all created for that purpose?
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Isaiah 43:7
Is it possible that the sin nature with which we are saturated from day zero, was given to us for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God, either in his gracious forgiveness through the atonement of Christ or in his righteous judgment on our rebellion, casting us to eternal torment? If so, God is glorified either way.
If that is possible then surely the more important question is not “how did God make me?” but rather “for what purpose did God make me?” If that purpose is the glory of God and I am continuing in a pattern of sinful actions and attitudes, rebelling against that which I know to be true, then I have to ask myself, “how does this glorify God?”
There are times in the darkest of days when seemingly the only answer to that question is in his just judgment on me. Nothing else makes sense in those moments. There could be no other way, only by my drinking the cup of the wrath of God can his justice be satisfied. It is in those deep, dark times that a voice whispers that some One has already drank that cup. The overwhelming punishment that is due me is put on Christ. This is unwarranted and undeserved, prohibiting me from receiving any glory, rather putting it all on him.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.” John 13:31-32
Moving forward in hope
All of the Christian life must then be aimed at glorifying God.
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1Corinthians 6:20
We constantly wrestle with how we should spend our time, what we should be working toward, in short, how we should live our life. Don’t be deceived, brothers and sisters, our life is not ours. What was “our life” before Christ is dead and gone. Holding onto that former life is rejecting Christ.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
Therefore it is by submitting to the will of Christ that we truly live. What that looks like in the particular is difficult at times to see, but so often we are missing the forest for the trees. We focus on what job God wants us to have, and refuse to allow God to reign over our sexual (im)morality. We desperately cling to our autonomy not realizing that it is a lead weight sinking us further in the mire of our sin nature. Daily we are faced with a choice. Do we glorify God in our submission to his will or spurn his grace by our acting on our own sinful desires? Do we walk in the Spirit or in the flesh?
…so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2Thessalonians 1:12
Living for Christ will make us uncomfortable in this world. People will say that we are denying our true nature, our true selves. But friends, true comfort does not come from this world. True comfort comes only from the Comforter Himself, the Spirit of Christ in you. Our sin-riddled bodies ache, but we don’t look to socially acceptable worldly lifestyles. We instead move forward with hope.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Is it possible that God is seeking a greater glory for himself through your life and actions? Is it possible that your testimony to his power to give you victory over indwelling sin would give him that greater glory? When we reach our own end then we must rely on God. In that time we have the decision to harden our hearts to our sin or cry out for sanctifying grace for the moment.
It is difficult to make these decisions alone. Christians then as a body of believers must come alongside of one another, encouraging and yes rebuking when appropriate. I received an encouraging rebuke from a friend once that I will never forget. Talking about our various struggles with ungodly desires he told me, “You’re not allowed to want that.” He spoke from his own experience, from his own struggles. I will never forget that truth, that conviction that the Holy Spirit effected through that brother. Only in confronting personal sin in ourselves and opening up to others can we ever challenge that indwelt sinful behavior, remembering that the point of all this is to glorify God through the gospel of Christ. God did make me and he made me for his own glory. Its about time that I owned that purpose for my life.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 15:5-7
Tessera Sola 