We are each born on earth

Apart from God by sin

Trying to figure out the way

To make it back to Him

Each person is born with an identity crisis, trying to figure out “who am I?” and “why am I here?”.  Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, causing sin to interrupt God’s purpose, man has been trying to justify himself before God as someone who has an identity that is equal too or even superior to God.  In the article “Why am I here?“, I discuss a long list of things that people identify with as a purpose for their life but recently I have seen a new purpose and identity “thief” that has show up on the world stage.  This new identify for man is “victim” of life.

Now in a sense, we are each born a victim of life because we are a “victim of sin“.  It is not our fault that we are born with a sin nature.  We inherited the sin nature from Adam which makes us naturally rebellious toward God.   And even as we understand more about our DNA, we are not going to find the “sin” gene in the material world, because our sin nature, or as my pastor says our “sin-clination” occurs because our “Spirit” nature is disconnected and separated from God.  Yes, we are “born to be wild” but we are not suppose to remain “wild” anymore than we are to remain a child and act like a child when we become an adult.  

As a parent, I know how to recognize and handle a child that demands things instead of asks for them.  If at first the child doesn’t listen to reason, then you simply give them NOTHING until they realize that getting something, although is it not exactly what they want is better than getting nothing.   Or as my mother use to say “quit that crying or I will give you something to cry about!“.  By not giving into unreasonable demands, a child is forced to take time to think about the way things work on planet earth.  Perhaps, they will realize it takes work and effort to get things and therefore they will be more appreciative of what they are given or perhaps they will figure out a way to get what they want on their own.  But at least they aren’t raised with the delusional expectation that someone is going to give them whatever they want in life and if they don’t get their way they pitch a fit, demanding that someone sooth their bruised fragile ego.

I remember running away from home one time when I was about 6 years old, when I didn’t feel like I was getting enough attention and appreciated from my family.  I put some bread, cookies and  clothes in a pillow case and walked into a wooded area near our house.  I sat down ate and then realized how scary and unable I was to make it on my own.  So I went back home and no one even knew I had left and done such a stupid thing.  Not giving in to childish demands cures a spoiled “victim” attitude 100% of the time, if it is done consistently at an early age, after that … well you have adults whining and acting like children and that’s the issue I am addressing with this article.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3

The point I am trying to make is a that is person is supposed to take responsibility for their life and for what they do to “get through” this life.  Having to work to earn a living will make you appreciative what it takes to earn your “daily bread” and it reveal to you, your weaknesses and your selfishness and all the cheating and craziness that is going on in the world.  Perhaps the daily struggle will reveal to you, your sinfulness and the sinfulness of others in the world and cause you to seek to forgiven and reconciled to God.  For those who poor and humble in spirit are blessed because they realize their need for supernatural help from God in this world and the next.  That is why it is “easier” for them to find salvation in Christ and enter God’s Kingdom.  But for those rich, they tend to think that what they have or what they can get with their money will make them happy and complete.  This is why it’s harder for a rich person to enter Heaven.  

And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 19:23

We are each responsible for seeking to be reconciled to God through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Man is without excuse for failing to acknowledge the greatness of God’s creation and the agent of destruction (sin) that is working to slowly wear down and tear down God’s creation.  This is called the “general” revelation of God which is the visible witness of God’s greatness in His creation and the effect of sin that is destroying it.  Plus man is without excuse for failing to acknowledge that his actions and motives are not morally perfect before God.  This is called the “special” revelation of God which is the invisible witness of God’s moral authority over what is right and wrong and our inability to meet God’s standard.  These revelations from God are meant to cause a person to see his need for God and for God’s forgiveness.  This is the place where the gift of grace, faith, godly repentance and salvation can change a person so they are Spiritually “born again” in Christ and receive His Holy Spirit.  And this Spirit of God is able to tame our wild sin nature and give us our true identity which is “eternal child of God“.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12 

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.  – Isaiah 55:11

Note, as the two above scriptures state, there is also the invisible revelation of God that is present in God’s word.  That is why God’s word is know as the “Sword of the Lord” and it accomplishes what it says it will do!

A young person once complained to me and said he didn’t feel appreciated for “who he was or what he did”.  And I said “Oh, yeah, there’s a support group for that they are called everyone and they meet at the bar”.

Now, I am not suggesting that you try to wash away your identify crisis at the bar but what I am explaining is that everyone feels like they deserve something better out of life.  We look at someone else and envy what they have, unless of course unless that person has more troubles than we have … then we don’t envy that person but we walk by them like the scribe and pharisee walked by a wounded Jewish man, instead of offering him assistance (Luke 10:25–37).  In Jesus’ time it was a bad situation to be a real victim like the man who was mugged on the road to Jerusalem because there was no “911” number to call and no government program to assist you.  And the person that did help the victim on the road was a Samaritan man who washed the wounds, applied oil and bandages then took the victim to a place to recover and even paying his lodging expenses.  You see the Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews in Jerusalem, because Sameria was the Northern capital of the 10 Jewish tribes who left King Solomon to crown their own King.  The Jews of the Northern Kingdom had intermarried with the nations around them and taken on some of their false worship, which caused the Jews in Jerusalem to disown their Northern brothers.

Yes, the politics and opinions were strongly divided back in Jesus’ time but people didn’t act like they where a victim to curry favor with the government.  Moreover, they were real victims at this time because of government persecution and unfairness between different “classes” of people.  This is why so many of the people turned to Jesus, they, like the disciples, thought Jesus had come to deliver them from Roman and Jewish leadership oppression and establish His Kingdom on earth.  Two of the disciples even asked for seats on either side of Jesus to reign and rule the earth with Him.  But Jesus tried to explain that He had to first die for their sin before coming back at a later time to establish His Kingdom on earth.  Finally, after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples understood the persecution they would face as they proclaimed the gospel and built Christ’s church.  To be unfairly treated, beaten, imprisoned and executed for your faith … well that is what a real victim looks like but these martyrs didn’t complain because of their persecution for the cause of Christ but sang praises of thankfulness to be found worthy to share in His suffering.  Praise God, that He blesses and rewards those who stand in faith at the great cost of persecution.

The reality is that we live in a fallen world.  The blessing that we enjoy in America are due to those who have come before us, worked hard and have faithfully served God.  If people want to be blessed they need to look to God like those who came before them, not look to government programs and handouts.  Those who want entitlements from the government make their living by playing a victim of circumstances and they teach others to do the same.  We have had equal civil rights since the 1960’s but you wouldn’t know it by those who insist they are a “victims” because of the color of their skin.  This new un-civil rights movement is not about righting a moral wrong but it is about removing their responsibility before God for their life and making the government responsible for their life.

Yes, the Black Lies Matter movement has a serious identity crisis but the “victim mentality” is really out of control and on steroids at Liberal universities.  Many college students today are being taught to act like victims as a way to deal with the difficulties of life.  When I went to college the students protested against the government to stop our involvement in the war in the Vietnam so they wouldn’t be drafted and have to fight in the war.  The Vietnam war was mainly a civil war between communism in the north against democracy in the south.  This was the first kind of “terrorist” style war the US entered into and we still have not learned our lesson on how to defeat an enemy that outwardly looks like our friend but inwardly they are looking for a way to kill us or rule over us.

But students today don’t protest the government to free them from military service but they protest the government to free them from personal debt and personal responsibility.  They are taught by their professors and others to play the game of “victim”.  The game is played by trying to “spin up” the biggest reason that you are offended by the speech of others or even someone’s existence.  To win the game you must become emotionally invested in your victim hood and seek out a “safe space” to hide from the unnecessary roughness of reality.  And what is the purpose of this bizarre behavior … well, it is an attempt to gain government favor of compensation by demonstrating you are a victim of society.  It’s the attitude that the government “owes” me a free education and a free pass through life because life is unfair and just too damn hard to even try and make it on my own.

Kellyanne Conway on feminism: I’m a product of my choices not a victim of my circumstances.

Ultimately the left is trying to create a culture where people feel like they are entitled to other people’s wealth and money and it’s the government’s job to spread the wealth.  It’s a win-win situation because the Liberal politicians get what they want … to stay in office by taking from the rich and their constituents get what they want “something for nothing”.  Even the state of anarchy that is created by the enormous debt of these government entitlement programs, open boarders that allow illegals and terrorist to live in America is a win for the Liberals … because when all hell breaks loose, the liberal politicians declare martial law which mean they have even more power over the people … well at least that was the plan before they lost the last election.  

In reality, promising something for nothing is a loose – loose situation for the country because when everybody thinks they deserve a free lunch … who’s going to serve the meal?

Often when I contemplate the Liberal Lunacy unfolding before my eyes I hear the Dire Straits song playing the background “Money For Nothing”.  

This new “victim” identity that is based on emotions instead of facts benefits no one and makes everyone a victim.  When a white male claims to be a poor black handicap Chinese woman and the government legally supports his insanity, who is the victim? … the black man who can’t get people to properly acknowledge him as a Chinese woman or the people who can’t figure out how to play this game of “Charades”?   Here’s another problem created by identity insanity, when woman march in the streets for equal pay with men and they are joined in the march by “men who claim to identify as women” what is the point of the march?  And what if you have people marching in the streets demanding that little girls should be protected from men who expose themselves to girls in a woman’s bathroom and the majority of these people marching are confused men who claim to be “girls” who are traumatized by exposure from men in the bathroom that they are they are designated to use because of their sexual gender? 

Jussie Smollett is the latest “flim-flam man” to try and scam America for his benefit by using “identity politics” and assuming the role of “holy victim”.  The Universities are the breeding ground and training ground for this insanity and have developed it into a science, awarding a “social credit” for the person who claims to be the most oppressed and offended.  Essentially, they are training people to turn their sinful lifestyle of LGBT into a platform of suffering as the “holy victim”, who deserves “great” retribution from society.  Instead of Godliness offering much gain from God, ungodliness to the victim mentality offers much gain from society.

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. – 1 Timothy 6:6

Surely, you can see the ridiculousness and madness of this charade and how the fabric of society just keeps unwinding the more people insist on playing the “victim” game.  As my father use to say “the first liar doesn’t stand a chance”.

 – Rogersings

I would like to take a little more time and discuss the movie Avatar.  The movie depicts a utopia civilization of big blue Na’vi people who are indigenous to planet Pandora.  They live in harmony with one another and they live in harmony with their environment, which is really a cool place to live.  Everything on Pandora is hunky dunky until “humans” discover valuable Unobainium fuel buried in their rain forest.  Now, the humans want the fuel but they want to the Na’vi people to agree to give it to them so they enter into the Na’vi world in Avatar bodies that look like a Na’vi.  Well, the humans who take on Avatar bodies don’t do very well adapting to their environment or winning the confidence of the Na’vi people until an ex-marine named Jake takes on an Avatar body.  His warrior spirit wins favor with the Na’vi people but the more he understands about them the more he realizes it is wrong to ask the Na’vi people to move or invade their land.

Well, when the Na’vi people don’t agree to the negation tactic, all out war is declared on them by the humans.  Fortunately, Jake rallies the Na’vi people and invokes the spirit of the Eywa is the guiding force and deity of Pandora and the Na’vi,  The Na’vi believe that Eywa acts to keep the ecosystem of Pandora in perfect equilibrium.  And when the war looks like a lost cause for the Na’vi people the animals of the planet come their aid and destroy the human war machine.

The Avatar movie paints humans as imperialist who will wipe out what all species that get in the way of their greedy desires.  I do think that technology and industrialization creates create an economic divide between the haves and have-nots.   I don’t know too many people that are willing to give up modern conveniences like indoor pluming and electric lights once they get use to them.  The Amish think the technology and power derived from a gas fired compression engine or an electric motor is the work of the devil to distract of keep man from depending on God.  To some degree this is true but this same technology gives me a powerful way to translate God’s word into the native language of a people at a fast pace.  The radio can be used to broadcast the gospel into hostile territory.  And hospitals, modern medicine and supplies delivered by airplane are all miracles of technology which are used to “bless” people in Jesus name.

I think in some ways the New Heaven and New Earth we will be like Pandora and we will be like the Na’vi people who live in harmony with each other and our surroundings.  We will depend on God the right way for everything and enjoy life to the fullest but this is not a reality that we should expect to occur on earth at this time.  We need to “first” save souls for Jesus then try to live a peace with others and our environment.  The message of American exceptionalism is not “imperialism by force” but Godly blessing from moral righteousness. 

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