Living an Artificial Life
[DoMG No.1] Pattern Matching in the Postmodern World
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
- Isaiah 61:4 (NASB 1995), emphasis added
Truth is banned in this world. Uttering the real is taboo (and may get you brought into the HR office at your corporate job), so we're all forced to whisper approximations and heuristics rather than what's real. I hate when I hear people give advice that's based on old expressions these days. Whether or not it's relevant isn't the issue, but I know it can't be helpful. Our society's been on a downward slide for generations now with regards to morality and truth, so there is no doubt whatever expression-based advice you give comes out of the collective understanding of increasingly perverse generations. In other words, old expressions are remnants of failed ideologies and belief systems. They are the remnants of a dying society.
I now re-examine the advice that I get with a fine-toothed comb. Is it true? What's its origin? Does it align with biblical reality and logos? I don't think people ask these questions enough. What if the advice was once true but what if it doesn't truly apply to your situation or doesn't take into account the state of today's world. We live in New Babylon, a near-global society that's captivated by sin. Every perversion possible is glorified. Every death-bringing, soul-destroying thought is held up as truth and righteousness. Does this mean all old or ancient knowledge is bad?
No.
What's eternal remains true and good. Biblical truth reigns supreme. King Jesus is called King of kings and Lord of lords for a reason. Still, I often find that Christians have warped thinking in this regard. They uphold biblical truth, but they will default to an anti-biblical decades-old expression when asked for advice (or when they haven't been asked). Somehow God's eternal word gets passed over for something less. What you'll find is people quoting expressions that are at odds with God's word. It sounds good and wise, but it doesn't take into account biblical patterns and logos. Actual biblical examples of situations are passed over by things that seem right and good to the outside observer.
I don't hate tradition. I love God's Word. God's Word is far more eternal than man's traditions.
So, I've found that many Christians live according to worldly expressions rather than ultimate biblical truth. They value the wrong things, and they bring death and suffering to others as those who truly know God struggle to live under the burden of worldly convention. I can think of many sayings (if not all) that fall into this category, but I won't list them as not to cause offense. Still, I can talk about thought-patterns that have harmed me.
I remember being involved in campus ministry back in college. Before I explain further though, I want everyone reading this to know that I really valued that time in my life, and I have nothing against the organization leaders and fellow students that I worked alongside. I just have understood the confusion that I suffered from during my time there. While working with this organization (which I still appreciate and believe is still a wonderful organization), I continually came in conflict with what I was being asked to do and what I felt led by the Spirit to do. I remember doing outreach events and being in deep spiritual conflict over participating in them.
At these events, usually you have something that draws students in (usually food or something fun), this is so that you can hopefully strike up a conversation with a student and get them interested in Jesus. I can be horrifically awkward at times, but I would do my best; however, I obviously wasn’t any good at this mostly because I have some mild eccentricities about me. I was, however, good at leading the girls small group (teaching the Bible) and setting up for events, serving in that manner. At the time, that was the main form of evangelism that campus ministry organizations went after, usually event-based that hopefully lead to personal conversations. There was also the idea for students in the org that would be graduating of transitioning to workplace ministry (talking to people on your job about Jesus). Now, none of this is wrong, in fact, it's the right way to go about things for some people, but it's probably not the best strategy for everyone.
Over time, I've found that some of the best evangelism is through being who God created you to be and having people in your life watch you. In other words, there is an active, gregarious form of evangelism for people that can do that well, but there is also a quiet evangelism where people around you see how you live your life and admire it, then desire it. This was brought up but not as emphasized as I would like in campus ministry. Obviously, you should be able to share your faith as a Christian, but you have to understand that God has a strategy for sharing Jesus for you that suits who he created you to be.
When you live your life well, doing what God has called you to do and seeing blessings and success, people see you, and it witnesses to them. For example, whether in open or in secret, I write. My hope is that what I write is reaching you now so that you understand that being who God created you to be, living with his word inside your heart, and developing and using the gifts and talents that he's given you is the best way to attract people to a more authentic way of living.
Oftentimes, people are caught up in the convention of the day, and they derail their destiny by following convention rather than following Jesus. The world says that to be successful, you have to go to college. This is false. God can take you wherever he wants to lead you and give you success for his name’s sake. The world says that the best way to evangelize is always to find someone to speak to about Jesus. For authentic evangelists, this may actually be good and true, but if God made you an artist, a painter, the best way for you to evangelize is to be the best painter that you can be for Jesus. The best way to evangelize if you make music is to make the best music possible for Jesus. The best way to evangelize if you're an extremely gregarious and charismatic person is to talk to everyone that you meet about Jesus. I'm an abstract thinker with lots of ideas to speak and to write. The best way for me to evangelize is to speak and write about these ideas.
There are many dynamics to living authentically. I discuss here the part on being one's self as God created. The Artificial Life is the life that you are programmed to believe from a young age is the right life for you to live. Even as an adult, if you take to a way of living, you may find yourself living inauthentically by an ideal rather than by truth. You live by expressions and slogans about life rather than the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ. You are an artist, but someone tells you that you can't make money that way, so you decide to be a banker instead. Will you truly be able to communicate the glory of God by being someone God did not create you to be? You are a mother, but people say kids are too expensive and that you should focus on your career instead. You are a politician, but people say it's too corrupt, go into the business world instead. You are a teacher of young children, but people say that's too hard and that you won't get paid enough, be a lawyer instead. You get the picture.
The Artificial Life is the life that we construct for ourselves to please others around us and to please the world system. It's a life that looks good to others on the outside but kills us on the inside. It is lacking in God-given purpose and self-actualization. It is dead though it looks alive. It killed the past generations, and now it's killing you.
But God has given you an opportunity to live in a true way, to live in accordance with your values and your nature. This is not hedonism. I'm not talking about living unto your worldly desires. I'm speaking on walking in humility by being exactly who God created you to be. No more. No less. Not just for you but for future generations.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Make sure to remember,
You are part of a Holy Lineage that will never die.