Never giving up in a world of surrender

Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin

Too often certain moral failures (sins) are excused, defended, and promoted on the basis of experiences and failed struggles. "I tried not to be ____" or "I tried not to like _____" are viewed as proof that the reality is they were fighting against something that simply was a part of them (and the science scrambles to interpret various inane biological events and chemicals in a way that favors these theories). It's argued that they could not stop doing what they felt wrong doing because in actuality, that was a natural part of them- in fact it was only "wrong" to them because society impressed upon them it was wrong. Since it's natural to them we should embrace it as they have. They're happier without struggling.

This is a ridiculous and dangerous argument, because:
1. It presents the concept that something you cannot fight is simply natural AND that therefore it should be embraced.
2. If you argue that someone who cannot resist urges therefore must have been born with them, and therefore ought NOT to resist them (but rather embrace them and be lauded for them) - and that by extension the only reason they're wrong is because society tells them it is (but how dare society do so) - then it is no exaggeration to state that it follows that serial killers only do what is natural to them, and who are we as society to force them to struggle against what is just in their blood. Why can't THEY be happy? Who are WE to restrain them?

While sin is natural, it is NOT to be embraced. Our life is to be an endless and difficult battle against the constant temptations. We will fall disgracefully short in our struggles and must rely on God, but the simple and convicting fact remains that if a man must spend 80 years struggling futilely against for instance alcoholism or urges toward domestic violence he must nevertheless absolutely and unfailingly battle to the point of sweat, tears, and blood against those sinful urges.

He may even have a less than cheerful life, but better to have a life of struggle and pain and wisdom than a life of carefree and reckless desires which leads to damnation. "Choose you this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" as Joshua said, though in this context we might understand the weight of that statement better.
Indeed, we may find that decades of hard struggle will serve as a blessing in disguise as we come to appreciate the multitude of blessings and smaller joys that God has placed around us.

Truly, even if this entire life is a 100 year slog through mud and crap (metaphorically) filled with pain and loss and hurt and grief and desperate repentance, EVEN THEN it would be better that it were thus and we did not cease our striving but looked forward to the immeasurable rewards of eternity with God.



On a related note: WHEN will we realize the horrific damage we commit upon those who learn from us by failing to rebuke, or affirming, or accepting, or promoting their confused ideas and their sinfulness.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

If truth is not objective - if there is no external source against which all is weighed - then all truth is subjective. We are of course fine with this concept insofar as the truth we personally hold to is allowed to exercise itself freely and is at least for the most part mirrored in the truths of those around us. It is too often only at the moment when our own subjective truths are challenged by the truths of others with more votes or more guns that we suddenly become loud advocates for objective truth - forgetting, of course, that we'd already buried it alive in the backyard after hacking away at its head with all our might.

The notion that things will remain in our favor is a desperate hope reminiscent of religious faith, though in actuality it is simply blindness. This, like all ideas, is nothing new. We are arrogant enough to believe that our morals today have always been what they are (ironically, like we were "born yesterday"), choosing not to see all the authorities and influences that crafted them in the earlier years of our lives, so why would we ever be concerned with the flow of history outside of ourselves?

In response to the loss of objectivity we grasp at objectivity by attempting to gift it to Science. If we take only what is observable and craft truths around it, we are able to say for a time (however long it takes to become honest) that we have discovered absolute truths. We conveniently overlook the basic fact that all things are observed and reasoned and comprehended within the utterly biased, prejudiced, presupposition-filled human mind, choosing instead (for the sake of argument, I suppose) to attribute a vacuum of bias and preconception to anything viewed with a microscope or telescope. We quietly ease the past misconceptions and wrong (though they were brilliant and clearly supported by mountains of evidence at the time) theories of science into the paper shredder in order to maintain the tidy desk upon which we can claim that science is the arbiter of all truth.

Therefore, bereft of any absolute truth in the human philosophies which is external to the inevitably prejudiced perception and reason of one man or another, we are left with 2 options:
1. To wring our hands, submit our votes, shake our signs and throw our fists in the vain hope that our beliefs will prevail upon society for at least as long as we are alive. The intellectual bankruptcy bothers us not at all so long as we are sufficiently situated. Just like a crack addict who's reached the bottom, losing everything as a result of his actions, we will most of us wake up when the time of pain comes upon us, but the night is young and intoxicants and stimulants are plentiful. Let us eat, drink, and be merry, because we surely shall not die.
2. Accept that there is absolute Truth, and that it is impossible for changeable man to be the arbiter. An external Creator - for a Creator determines truth, as it is that which is according to the Creator's Will - must exist and must have an established reality of good and evil. Serve God in fear and trembling and joy and love.

The first option is of course more pleasant now while the waves are low and we are able to surf about lazily, but we will howl and gnash our teeth greatly when the tide changes and we are sucked out to sea to drown, separated from Joy completely.

The second option seems less fun, but reveals itself to be all joy both in this life and in eternity when we begin to really comprehend God's purposes and promises.