Beyond Morality: Part II

When you have become locked into the way of thinking that self perfection is the sole goal in life you actually program yourself never to reach a point where you can totally be free. It’s just like someone who has been stuck in prison all his life, on this constant quest to try to get free. All his thoughts about his whole life are what it would be like to be free. He put all his energy each in every day trying to brake out, to no avail. Year in and year out, trying to be free, trying to be free. He has been locked up for so long that all he knows is the prison, and the definition and purpose of his life is to get free. He has defined himself as a prisoner and his life is defined by his struggle to get free. If, one day, someone comes along and unlocks the cell, he wouldn’t really know what to do with himself. He is free now, no longer locked up, no longer bound by the bars. You know what that means? His whole reality will have to adjust. His priorities would have to change now. There is no need to try to find ways to be free any more. The cell has been unlocked and the chains have been broken. He is no longer a prisoner and there is no need to define himself by his struggle to get free.

You can take the man out of the prison, but how do you take the prison out of the man? Now, that is the hard question. This man’s mind has been too conditioned to his previous reality. Although you would think he would just burst out and be free, he is actually afraid, he is afraid of change. You see, the cost of freedom is change, it is the death of your old reality, old way of thinking, and old priority and meaning in life. Most men aren’t ready for that. We think we want to be free, but in reality we really don’t. We understand life as a prisoner. It makes sense to us and we are used to it. We know the rules, we know what to expect. We feel safe in a world that we can understand, no matter how miserable it actually is.

So this man shuts the cell door back. He asks to be locked back in and continue to work to be free. Freedom is too scary; it is too unfamiliar to him. At least he understands his cell, at least he knows what to expect.

This describes the life we live when moral perfection has become our goal. Christ actually came and set us free; he unlocked the prison door and set us free. But, in reality, we don’t want to be free. If we ever accepted that we were free from the power of sin and we are made worthy in God’s eyes, it would mean the whole purpose of our life would have to change. This is, in fact, why we go back to sin and struggling with sin. It is familiar to us. We are used to it. It has defined our reality for so long it is difficult to receive something else.

Freedom requires a new mindset, a new way of thinking, a new set of goals and priorities. For some men, this is hard to receive; the moral perfection you are trying to achieve has been achieved already in Christ. When we accept Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins as the sufficient payment for our guilt, we become one with Him. I know it is hard to accept, but when we accept Christ into our hearts as our Lord and savior, we receive His perfection as our own. Christ is the only perfect and completely moral man that has every lived. In fact, He is morality itself. Our faith in Him makes us one with Him, one with His righteousness and one with His perfection. In God’s eyes, you are already perfect and you are free to pursue your dreams in life, the dreams and desires God put in you.

I know what you are saying, “Well what about this sin in my life? What about the weaknesses I still feel?” Faith in Christ means that you believe He paid the price for your imperfection and He has given you His character and nature. The more you renew your mind to this reality, the more your perception about yourself will change and, only then, your actions will change. In short, if you believe and see yourself as a sinner, you will continue in sin. However, if you see yourself as dead to sin and alive in Christ, you will begin to walk as Christ does. Moral perfection only comes through a renewed mindset about your identity and nature as one with the Divine through His son, Christ. But you can not bypass your self perception of yourself.

Once you get that straight, you now can understand the true meaning and purpose of life and morality. Life has to have meaning and purpose in order to be successful. You have to have some sort of vision or dream that you are pursuing, something that is transcendent, that is bigger then yourself that you are striving for. The mark of the high calling that Paul talks about. It is this dream that is a higher and better goal then morality alone. In fact, when you believe that you are worthy, when you accept that you are free, and when you make the sole purpose of your life the pursuit of God’s purpose, you actually express something that is greater than simple moral perfection. As you manifest God’s purpose for your life, you are manifesting God’s holiness and perfection on the earth.

With this mindset, morality ceases to become the end goal, but it becomes the means to achieve that end. Have you ever admired an athlete that seems to be in perfect shape? He goes to the gym, works hard, and eats right, all to be in shape so he can perform at his best. Being in shape is not his main goal, however. His goal is to be a good ball player. However, being a good ball player requires you to be in shape. Working out and perfecting and disciplining your body because the means to assist him in being the best ball player he can be. In fact, even if he didn’t work out so much, he probably would be in better shape than the most of us because he spends a lot of time playing ball. If he just played ball all day long, he would still be in great shape, working out would just enhance him.

Let’s focus on playing the game. There is a time of preparation, developing your skills in private, working out and getting in shape. But nothing perfects you better than getting out there and playing the game. You are perfect and free in Christ if you put your faith in Him. You are worthy and you qualify to pursue your dream. As you get on the path of destiny, the imperfections that still exist will be taken care of as you continue to renew your mind to your new reality in Christ.