Now, class, tell me why I say that.
(Hey: I figure, if I have some of the smartest commenters on The Intrawebs, why not let them shine?)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Deeper and more relevant than it means to be
Now, class, tell me why I say that.
(Hey: I figure, if I have some of the smartest commenters on The Intrawebs, why not let them shine?)
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13 comments:
If God made me this way then all these "social constructs" that tell me my behavior (pick your perversion here) is wicked per se are just closed minded and hateful.
(of course if God made me close minded and hatelful I don't know why they would have a problem with it)
al sends
Well, I'd say that the world is teaching us that we are who we are and that we need to look out for ourselves (I'm being broad and not just sticking with homosexuality, although this is really where we're seeing it manifested in the news these days). According to the world, not only are we not going to change, but people should respect us for who we are and we should be coddling our faults and enjoying ourselves in every possible way. Elton John sings a song about being better than us and uses a foul term to describe himself the same way that Lucy is described here...and he's proud of it.
In reality, we can not change ourselves and that is a huge problem. God tells us so Himself - "'Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.'" (Jeremiah 13:23) He also provides the remedy for the problem - "'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people...I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'" (Jeremiah 31:33b-34) Jesus lived a perfect life in the flesh without sin, died on the cross and took the wrath of God that we deserve for "being who we are", and rose again to conquer death and sin for us. And if we trust in Him and His work in salvation and follow Him as our Lord, then we can be changed by God. Of course, before time began, He had already chosen those whose hearts He would change, but we have a responsibility to repent and turn to Jesus based upon the gift of faith that God provides to us.
So, the world thinks we're all bad in some way (homosexual, prideful, greedy, lustful, etc.), but that is what makes us who we are and people should respect us. And some preachers actually teach that God will accept you just as you are and that you can keep staying just how you are and be OK with God. The problem with that is that when God saves us, he changes us and we aren't the same. If you don't see any evidence of change, then there is cause for concern. Just read through Paul's epistles and the book of James after doing a full study on the teachings of Jesus from the gospels. (Hint: Jesus says there should be a change, too)
Wow...left here to check the news and saw this:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/05/16/behar.don.lemon.hln?hpt=C2
Like I said, homosexuality is where we see this manifested in the news these days.
Wait a minute, Peppermint Patty is the one telling Lucy that she is the one that is crabby and that she is the one who is too stubborn to change? Good grief!
Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.
But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
More generally, since we are "dead in our trespasses and sins" (Eph 2), we really have no ability to change. We maybe morph one sin into a different, less socially unacceptable form by turning over a new leaf, but, basically, it's the same leaf.
The sudden "sense of relief" that Lucy feels is that when we realize we actually can't change the leaf, we have to cope with the reality of our mistakes, offenses, inabilities, negative quirks, outright belligerence, and the resulting low self concept.
To be told that we CAN'T change, is a relief because we rationalize that we're not responsible anymore. Whew! Here I was fretting that maybe I would be judged for all this sin, wickedness, and iniquity, but really, if nobody expects me to change down here, how can any god-concept above expect me to change either.
Every sinner needs a prophet like Sally Brown to ease their conscience.
Sadly, Christians (ought to) know that's not the right prophet.
-Kirby
You shouldn't give yourself away so easily in the post labels at the bottom, LOL.
Yeah, I actually thought that, but < shrug >
Well, okay, I get it. We can't join hands with our gay friends and rock out to Lady GaGa's timeless classic "Born This Way."
But, technically,Lucy's friend is not really talking about a massive habitual sin identity.
She's just talking about our personality quirks. I mean, I've got those. I'm a little outspoken, a little lazy, a little prone to self-promotion. That's why Lucy's relieved. God has just made our personalities all wonderfully unique, and we should own that, not try and be something else that we'll never be.
I prefer Weird Al's take on Gaga's song,
Perform this Way
Seems like you we needn't limit the application to homosexuality.
My favorites?
Look at AA. You're not a drunk. You have the disease of alcoholism.
From psychiatry. Kids aren't rebellious and disrespectful. They have ODD - Oppositional Defiance Disorder.
Or (ducking head) from some women. We're not grouchy and unreasonable. We're PMSing.
(Yes, I grant that there are legitimate medical/chemical/hormonal issues, but I'm not going there now.)
It feels so much better to explain away my sin in a way that makes me not responsible for it. Yah?
Let's look at it backward.
Why does Lucy feel a sense of relief? Because the world has told her ‘she is the way she is’ because God has made her that way. She was born with a tendency to be crabby, she naturally feels crabby, she’s most content when she’s acting crabby and no matter how hard she tries to change, she’ll always be crabby. So don’t bother trying, you can’t change the way you were made.
That really takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? I’d be relieved too if I knew that I wasn’t responsible for my sinful behavior and that it was all God’s fault. (Methinks we can look back to Genesis 3 and find some relevant words from our ultimate earthly ancestor on this subject. “This woman that you gave me...”)
In the end, isn’t that how we all react when asked, “Who told you that you were crabby?” We pass the blame, ultimately, to God for making us with these tendencies.
How easily we forget the glorious work of Christ who broke the chains that made us slaves to sin. How quickly we ignore the Spirit of power that strengthens us in our war with sin. How tragically we disbelieve that the Father provides us with a way to escape these temptations. They are not beyond our ability to resist, thanks to Him who loves, saves and sustains His own.
Trying to take a shot at this without reading the comments first:
Does the fact that Lucy feel relief signify that she doesn't want to change? i.e., that she can, but she does not WANT to?
(Now y'all can enlighten me.) :)
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