Being "Who You Are" is a SIN

Alright, being who you are isn't really a sin, I just wanted to get your attention. 

No, being who you are isn't really a sin, but then again, it is. We live in a society that drowns children in this ideology to be who they really are, to not let anyone tell them differently. We want them to be independent, make up their own mind, do their own thing and not let anyone tell them that it's not okay.  

But who are we, really? At the core of who we all are is pretty gross. We are truly evil creatures, and it begins as children. We tell lies, we're selfish, we're mean as a snake. We hate the people who raised us, we physically hurt others for making us mad, we use our words to bring others down. We let jealousy overtake our relationships, as well as lust, not to mention sexual immorality. We hate, we covet, we curse the God who made us. Some of us kill, spill blood, break down the body that was made just for our own souls. We are vile, nasty things. All of us. This is the core of who we are. This isn't something that is disputable, this is fact. Read a psychology book, it's in there. 

Is this what you want to teach your children? 

When Christ preached his most controversial of sermons, he said that we as Christians should die to ourselves. We read that now and think "Dang, Jesus, cool it down!", but it's totally true. We literally are called to make every effort to kill the human in us. We are told to take up our own crosses (think electric chair, a killing machine) and follow Jesus, no questions asked. Now, many lessons can be taught from this one statement, but to me Jesus really is saying this: 

               Today, when you accept me as your Lord and Savior, you are no longer you. You are me. You must eat my body and drink my blood. You must take up your own cross, carry it on your back, then die hanging from it. And then, you must become transformed as I did. When you decided to listen to Satan over God all the way back in the Garden of Eden, you decided who you were. Not anymore. You are now light of this Earth. When you seek me and stay in my word and let me take you through this process of transformation, you gain goodness, patience, joy, peace, happiness, love, self-control, kindness, and gentleness. You aren't you anymore, you get to be me.

If the Bible says it's a sin, it's a sin. I don't care if you were "born that way" or if you think "it's not really bad for you", you check absolutely everything you do with that book and with God. Because who you are deep down is not who you want to be, I promise. Prison is full of people who were being who they really were. 

And At Last I See the Light!

Today as I sat down in the church pew and looked at what the title of today's sermon was, I instincitively let out a sigh. "Give Like Jesus". It's the beginning of the year, I thought,  it's time for the annual plea for money. I was somewhat mistaken, however. Yes, an amount of it was indeed about giving financially, something that a college kid doesn't really have the luxury of doing so much. But a large part of the sermon was not just about giving money like Jesus, but giving yourself in general like Jesus. The beginning of the sermon was led by a guest speaker who was actually a missionary serving at an international Christian school in Germany. I'm not going to go into what she talked about aside from a statement that she made that hit home with me (and i'm sure will hit home with a lot of you, too). When asked how she made the decision to go into missions, she told of how she was living as most of us in America do, in intentional blindness.

Intentional Blindness. 

Love that statement. One of Satan's best tools here in this country is comfort. Comfort can be such an evil thing. From birth we are taught to strive for the "American Dream". Graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get married, have a family, live happily ever after. How many of us are living in this intentional blindness? We know that God isn't just calling us to put money into an offering plate. We know we actually need to be in the mission field, being intentional in people's lives, investing in them so that they may know the greatest of loves. But do we? Of course not. That would be uncomfortable. That doesn't fit in our 9-5, 5 day a week work schedule (and definitely not in any of those work schedules that don't look as good as that). We can't fit that around our class schedule. It's never a good time.

Most of us don't have a clue what joy can come from being fully obedient to God, and answering that call to live beyond ourselves and our little American Dream. Look at the story of Esther. She knew she had to go before the throne of the king, her own husband, without being summoned so that the Jews might be spared. This broke a very sacred law in the culture, and she was to be executed immediately, no questions asked. However, Esther was obedient to God, despite knowing what her fate would likely be. Her life was spared, as well as the lives of thousands of Jews.

You will never experience the full extent of God's goodness, blessings, and presence unless you take that step of obedience. Saying "Yes, God" and actually doing what God tells you to do next are two completely different things. And, incase you were wondering, there will never come a time when it's comfortable to do God's will. It will always be hard, uncomfortable, taxing, maybe even financially burdensome. But I can promise you that He will never let you fall. Ever.