Ephesians 4:17 NIV
So I tell you this,
and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their thinking.
If You Could Do Anything With Your Life, What Would
It Be?
You may know that my first year of college I decided
to be a chemistry major in an effort to qualify for medical school. It was of course a respectable degree to
pursue…at least if I could do it. It
required lots of hard work and many who choose chemistry as their major don’t
complete it because it is so challenging.
What interested me most about this selection of a major was that it was
respectable and would push me to maximize my abilities to accomplish the goal
of being a medical doctor. No one tried
to discourage me; I was generally told to pursue my dreams and that I could
accomplish whatever my heart desired.
Few of us would not want to pursue our dreams and I was no exception to
this normal approach to life. If I could
not be an NBA basketball player, I might as well be a medical doctor. It seemed reasonable to me and I believed I
could achieve this goal.
You could say that the expression that defined me at
this point in my life was, “I got it.”
You hear “I got it” often in sports.
If a fly ball is hit to the outfield, one of the outfielders yells, “I
got it!” Volleyball players scream out
“I got it” to let their teammates know they will receive the ball. If a fish is on your line, you might yell, “I
got it” to let everyone in on your impending accomplishment. But you also say “I got it” if you are going
to answer the phone or open the door for whoever is there. Psychologically, “I got it” means that you can
handle your problem; you don’t need help.
You may tend to like the independent type, the “I got it” you who relies
on yourself to “get the job done.” The
term for “I got it” is “self-realization” and it is now about a century old. Self-realization or “I got it” is generally
the object in therapy of nearly every worker in mental health. “Be all you can be” which is nearly the same
as “you got it” has a noble feel to it and who would argue that it should not
be your goal in life. Yet you know that
just because everyone else seems to hold to a particular view does not mean
that it is the best way of seeing something.
Could it be that “be all you can be” is not the approach you should take
to life? Is there the possibility that you
ought to evaluate this philosophy critically…maybe self-realization is not what
is best for you or me?
There are several ways self-realization is
practiced. I have a talent and I want to
maximize it. I have an interest and I
want to pursue it. I have an opinion and
I want to express it. I have a goal and
I want to chase it. This line of
thinking is often found in the Bible and although the term “self-realization”
is not used, the expression of it in normal sorts of ways is often described in
case studies that are provided in God’s word.
Lamech is not a familiar character in the Bible but he certainly was a
dramatic figure. His life is well
summarized in his own words. Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and
Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for
wounding me, a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."
(Genesis 4:23-24 NIV) Although this is
rather extreme, Lamech is expressing precisely the spirit of
self-realization. Self-realization is
the determination to assert my will over my environment both internally and
externally. In this case Lamech decided
that when he was wounded he had every right to kill the man who wounded him and
then he did it. He expressed himself and
his morality by extending outward his influence. Without independence, self-realization is not
possible. For Lamech, he took
self-realization to the outer edges by killing the man who put limits on his
happiness and comfort. He referenced God
but certainly never consulted with God nor did he act in conjunction with God when
he decided to kill the young man who hurt him.
A second example of self-realization is also found
in the book of Genesis. The strange
account of Jacob stealing his father’s blessing from his older brother
illustrates how far some will go to extend the boundaries of self. Rather than being satisfied with what he had
as his mother’s favorite and heir to much of his father’s fortune, Jacob
tricked his father into giving him the spiritual blessing the father intended
to pass on to Jacob’s twin brother Esau. Jacob
said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me.
Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your
blessing." (Genesis 27:19 NIV) If it were not for the murderous anger it
provoked in Esau, this could be labeled typical sibling rivalry. Take it out of the context of family
relations and you might make the case that Jacob was just fulfilling his
destiny. God had told Jacob’s mother
that Esau or Esau’s descendants would eventually serve Jacob or Jacob’s
descendants. Jacob was following his
dream of rising beyond his brother in influence and power by snatching away the
blessing of his father. One must wonder
if Jacob ever gained much satisfaction in stealing his brother’s blessing as he
immediately had to flee for his life and then spent twenty years living under
the domination of his future father-in-law.
How far should one go to live out one’s dream?
A third example, this time from the New Testament,
illustrates the reason why self-realization must never be our goal. The often recounted attempt of Peter to
correct Jesus is on the surface rather comical but Jesus did not treat it
lightly. The disciple “meant well”. He thought Jesus was not trusting the Father
enough when our Lord told the disciples that He would soon be killed by the
religious authorities. Without noticing
at all that Jesus promised He would on the third day after death be
resurrected, Peter made sure his opinion was voiced. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
"Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
(Matthew 16:22 NIV) Jesus’ response was
not pretty. “You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of
God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23 NIV) Here we have precisely put the essence of
self-realization. There is in Peter a
disconnect between himself and God and he is not aware of it taking place.
Peter means well. He has what he thinks
is good advice for Jesus but he is thinking without God and becoming spiritually
a part of Satan’s rebellion. It seems so
innocuous, self-realization. All you
want to do is make something of yourself, build something you care about, use
your mind to be creative, enjoy life.
Who could argue against that?
Peter had a good idea and it made sense to him yet our Lord blasted his
advice out of the water.
Consider the rebuke of Jesus carefully. “You don’t have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men.” This may seem so
minor a criticism but it is actually the sin that defines all Sin. Take note of Jesus’ warning in John 15. "I
am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown
into the fire and burned. (John 15:5-6 NIV) If you rationally contemplate this statement,
it would seem that the most important determination you can make is to live
your life out completely aligned with Christ.
There is no warning in scripture more severe than this that one might be
“picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
If this is disturbing, this possibility of being thrown into the fire
and burned, then the goal of being attached to the vine, of remaining in Christ
should rise above every other concern one has.
What good is it to realize your dreams, utilize your talents, enjoy your
days and speak your mind if by doing so you are not remaining in Christ…if it
all is completely outside life with God?
In self-realization, you take charge of your life and do as you see fit
but that is not Christianity; that is a meager and impoverished alternative to
Christianity.
Paul expressed perfectly what a normal Christian
life is. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. (Galatians 2:20a NIV)
When you put your faith in Christ as your Savior, Christ becomes a part
of you. Your personality, who you are,
is now Him and you and that is you as a person.
It is no longer just you; that person is dead but the you that exists as
a result is Christ and you. As you go
about your day, you become conscious of Christ in you and it matters because He
gives you wisdom, He strengthens you and encourages you and as you trust Him
with what is happening with you, God’s peace takes over and His joy gets worked
into you and it makes sense to remain in Christ because that life with God is
grander than you ever imagined. The life
without Christ is an inadequate, empty and insufficient life that becomes
nothing more than rubbish. The life with
Christ is a miracle of God and you. The
bigger Christ gets in you through your obedience to Him, the bigger you
become. Self-realization will only take
you to the edges of you and the sin you have corrupting you. Christ in you is you without limit and
becomes closer and closer to perfection as you build your life with Him. Just look closely at how Jesus lived His life;
without worry or fear, full of love and forgiving, kind and having not an ounce
of envy for what others had. That is
where we are heading, that is the direction we are going…for with Christ joined
to us, we will become perfect.
Let us consider just one aspect of what it means to
have Christ be a part of us. He said,
“my peace I give you”. What does that
mean? Think for a moment about the time
Jesus was in the boat with His disciples and a furious storm arose that brought
terror to the disciples. Meanwhile Jesus
slept without a care in the world, unperturbed by the winds and waves
raging. When the panicked disciples awakened
Him, Jesus calmly replied, "You
of little faith, why are you so afraid?" (Matthew 8:26 NIV) Now, what kind of life could you and I have
with that peace available to us? It is
astounding to think just how big our lives could be if we let Jesus, living
within us, play a bigger role in us!
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