A Fresh Perspective - June 15, 2007

As an infant we see the world as an extension of ourselves. As a newborn we have no sense of self-consciousness. We cry, we get picked up; we get hungry, we get fed. Of course in the process of growing up, we become self-aware, seeing the world as something separate from our self. In the process of becoming self-aware we also become self-centered. It's inevitable. We can explain it theologically and call it "original sin"; or we can explain it psychologically or socially, but there is no way to avoid it.

In the process of becoming more self-aware, we also become less and less God-aware. A little girl went up to the crib of her four-day-old baby brother and said, "Tell me about God, bubby - I've almost forgotten." In the process of being socialized into the world, "we forget," says Jesus scholar, Marcus Borg, "the one from whom we came and in whom we live." In becoming more and more self-conscious, we become less and less God-conscious and we experience this as a kind of disconnection, a separation from God.

In addition, we receive "messages" about life from our parents, siblings, peers, teachers, friends, etc. - parental, cultural, and religious messages. As we internalize these messages they shape who we become. For example, we may internalize a message that says we have to earn love. In order for God or anyone else to love us we have to prove ourselves, achieve a certain standard, or meet certain expectations, which is why some people have a difficult time believing that God could love them unconditionally. Spiritual writers such as Thomas Merton, tell us that as we internalize these "messages" they become part of our false self, in contrast to our true self, the self that is like God and reflects God's likeness.

So what is it we need? We need a transforming God-awareness. The biblical image of a new birth speaks to this need. Only the need is not for a single new birth experience, but for many such experiences; most of us need to be born again and again and again. Jesus speaks to this when he says (in Luke's Gospel) that if we aspire to be his disciple, we should deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him - daily, says Jesus. Salvation is a process of becoming, growing, maturing - shedding the false self, and learning how to live out of our true self - living from the inside out, instead of the outside in, as writer Frederick Buechner describes it.

It's not a process we can manipulate. Jesus says that spiritual renewal is like the wind; it cannot be controlled, and it blows where it will. But we can open ourselves up to the Spirit by being intentional about our spiritual life. We can be intentional about dying to our false self, and centering our life in God.

Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.