Christian Transitioning: Giving Up Who You Were

At the heart of the gospel message is a call to radical selflessness in all things.  It is a transformation that we are, quite literally, unable and unwilling to start on our own,  and it is one that requires God’s continuing grace throughout our lives.  While the transformative journey may look very different from person to person, we are assured that all who have been saved will undergo this transformation.  One of the great pictures of the purpose of the Christian’s journey on this earth is that we will “become conformed to the image of Christ” (Romans 8:29).  It is in this re-imaging transformation of ourselves that the Holy Spirit helps us to love what He loves and stop loving the things that He hates.

Shortly after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus said this to the disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)  There are many things that one can (and should) say about Jesus’ description of discipleship, but one thing that must be emphasized is this: one of the things at the core of this discipleship is a rejection of a life focused on self-interest or self-fulfillment.

In Luke 19, we meet Zaccheus, a was a greedy man who was very good at gaining wealth by using an intentional government loophole to extort huge amounts of money from people.  But when He came face to face with Jesus, he saw that so much of what characterized himself as a person was diametrically opposed to Jesus that he vowed to pay back those he’d defrauded 400% of what he’d stolen.

This is not a lone story of the radical changes in activity or lifestyle.  Paul writes to a group of people characterized by their love for Christ, but who were also characterized by the phrase “such were some of you” (1 Cor 6:11).  The true Christian church has always been made up of former thieves (like Zaccheus), former liars, former drunks, former adulterers, and former homosexuals.

The Bible doesn’t give us the option to have a class of Christians where someone can embrace their sinfulness as a positive Christian virtue, acceptable and endorsed as a true expression of Christianity. Scripture does not allow people embrace their sinful sexuality as an asset to their Christian life, whether they be “Christian Swingers” or “Gay Christians”.  Do Christians cheat on their spouses, get drunk, steal, engage in homosexual sex, or give their affection to other gods?  In short, yes.  The difference is that while Christians may never be free of struggling with some sins, a true Christian is not one who embraces that sin, who attempts to sanctify that sin, and who condemns anyone for daring to say that what they are doing is, in fact, a sin.

As His followers, Christ commands us to deny ourselves as we walk this path of discipleship.  If instead we embrace ourselves in our sinfulness and attempt to sanctify our sin, we will not inherit the kingdom of God.   “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” (Luke 9:24)