You Must Die

3 years ago, now, I bunked with one of my good friends and fellow youth worker. We were discussing various issues, including but not limited to sin issues. Ultimately, it came down to the desire to continue doing what one wants to do. And here I had to explain to my friend that everyone must die. 

Jesus said – Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. – Luke 9:23-24

I will define “his life” the way our modern people define it: whatever I like to do. Gwen Stefani once said, “it’s my life! Don’t you forget”. Cartman (South Park) said, “whatever, I do what I want”. Allistair Crowley said, “Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”. Aside from this being utterly satanic, you look around and think, “yup, that’s what everyone is up to”. So how is it that YOU must die?

Give up your sin. Kill it, if you have to. You are not your sin. 

Not everyone prefers the same sin, but our day has taught us to associate our personality with that sin. 

Is it pornography? This dude just likes the ladies… or the dudes…
Is it feminism? Dude, she just doesn’t want to be under the man anymore! I’m my own woman! Don’t you forget. I’m not going to submit to my husband! Instead I’m going to go get a career working for some other man, and I’ll submit to that guy instead!

Perhaps you enjoy the sin of partiality. 

“What the heck is that?”

It means that you prefer some people over and above others. This plays out with rich people only liking rich people, or perhaps it’s that group of girls that just know they are better than everyone else around them and shun all others. But this sin actually rears its ugly head the most with racism. 

Black people have darker skin than I do. Increasingly so in this farther north winter… where has my pigment gone? Am I sick and don’t know it? (And I swallow as I type that). Asian people have sorta squinty eyes. They work harder than others and succeed so we’re mad at them and we think they’re smarter than others so we don’t like them. While we’re at it, let’s knock it, have you ever noticed how many jews are involved in high level world controlling ventures? Don’t marry anyone outside of your skin tone. 

Yeah, all that needs to submit to Christ. It all must die. 

You are not your sin. 

Imagining that people are better based on skin color is utter stupidity. Now, if you want to talk about people who grew up in a certain region, and with a certain people, and that they are a certain way – we can talk about that. Because culture is culture. Believing skin color is a thing is utter pride. Pride is sin. That has to die also. You are not your skin color. Just like you are not your “sexuality”. Just like your are not your sin. 

If you leave it at the foot of Jesus, there is much, much to be gained. 

“Come, let us reason this out
Though your sins are as red as crimson
I can wash you white as snow” – Isaiah 6:9

Anyway – 

My friend didn’t like what I had to say. He said that he still wanted to do all the stuff. But it’s not like that anymore. This is a Holy Spirit work. And we are grateful for Holy Spirit’s breaking our own foolishness. May there be many stories like this.