How do we escape from living a lie and find a life of truth?
I know a white American, who spoke for years of his yearnings to join mission work in Africa. Ten years ago, God answered his prayer. We heard of ways he changed his Western thinking and way of life, taking on a role accepted by an African tribe so they would welcome him into their village. Is this a false way from him to live?
I’ve heard the story of a sixteen-year-old-girl, born to a harlot, and sold into prostitution at five. She said, “This is who I am, and who I’ll always be.” Are her words true to her reality?
In the episodes on identity, we looked at finding our true selves by looking to God and to his created intent for us. It’s the same with living out a life of TRUTH. We don’t escape pretense by accepting our personal reality. The TRUTH of our reality unfolds and matures as we seek God’s will for us every moment.
God sees crushed and broken souls, or selfish, prideful human beasts with a false sense of entitlement. But Christ says, “Let’s pretend these creatures are our children until they become so or reject us.”
Let God do the pretending
I imagine this view of reality rubs wrong if it seems to paint us as nameless, faceless, manufactured toy soldiers awaiting orders. But God in no way resembles the tyrant or oppressor who robs humans of their individuality.
It’s power-hungry controllers who seek to devalue identity and manipulate a single-minded motion toward their corrupt agendas.
Many biblical heroes fought to free others from tyranny or endured repression themselves, yet sought a way out while praying for deliverance.
It’s God who created the differences between us and made us his dearly loved children who reflect his own image, so we ought to love and respect each other’s true character.
The trouble comes when claiming our identity in things God did not intend for us, like an adulterated need for respect, excitement, personal space, etc.
We mistake such tendencies as part of our created makeup because we struggle to separate who we are from our coping mechanisms.
It’s good to examine our hearts and motives and seek to live unselfishly, but it’s easy to grow lost in overwhelming darkness by venturing into our deep-seated issues.
Escaping the lie we live happens when we depend on God to help us deal with our falseness and the falseness in others.
We can’t fully separate our corruption from our individuality. We’re blind to God’s full intent for our personality. But when we allow the Lord to open our eyes, we gain the freedom to love and respect each other’s wonderful differences and to recognize when twisted thinking and oppression devalues our personhood. Let us all pray for deliverance.
By accepting God’s reality for our life we escape from living a lie, find freedom, and progress toward our created individuality.