I have been sitting at a table in the Daily Grind for about 4 hours now. I went to see a good friend of mine this weekend at his college in western PA, so naturally, I did not get any school work done and I had a bunch of it pile up on me. So my Saturday has pretty much consisted of studying, writing, and more studying.
For my college writing class, I have to respond to a reading every night. The class is more of a philosophy class then an English class. The theme for the semester seems to be "Being Reflexive". Being reflexive basically means being open to our ideas changing as we read different texts as they impact us. My prof would say the purpose of being reflexive is to "achieve a greater self awareness." It sounds nice. It has a real lets go sit at Starbucks and debate philosophy into the late hours of the night while non-nonchalantly sipping a decaf mocha Java espresso that's cup is recyclable and gives 10% of its cost to hungry children in Africa so we can feel good about ourselves as we contribute to the environmental movement and humanitarian efforts made my individuals who are not sitting at Starbucks drinking decaf mocha Java espressos.
It has occurred to me while sitting in my College Writing 1 class how different my world view is as a follower of Jesus than a secularist. My prof regularly asks questions like "who are we", "what is the self", and "what is the purpose of reflexivity?". These are all very good, and essential questions to ask as humans. But my prof's answers to those questions directly contradict mine.
My prof's answers:
Who am I? I am made up of all my past experiences. My past experiences define me.
What is the self? The self is the "core I" that has been buried under all of my past experiences. The experiences have shaped me so much that it is difficult to know when the "Core I" or the "true self" emerges.
What is the purpose of reflexivity? To achieve a greater self- awareness and better understand the "core I".
My answers, which are what God has declared in His Word
Who am I? I am Joshua Nims, a son of the Most High God, a friend of Jesus Christ, and a co-heir to the universe. (Ephesians 1:5-10, Colossians 3:1)
What is the self? The self is who God had uniquely made me to be. I am defined by who God created me to be and the spirit He put in me. My past experiences do not define me because my past has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. (Psalm 139, specifically verse 14, Ephesians 1, Romans 6-8)
What is the purpose of being reflexive? There is no need to discover any new self awareness because there is none. I am a son of God. My purpose is to love Jesus and love people. Nothing else matters. (Matthew 22:38)
All this comes down the one question that my prof and I answer very differently. Where is my true home? Is my true home this Earth? Or is it in God's eternal Kingdom? If my home is this earth, and there is no life after death, then my professors answers to these questions make sense.
But I have experienced the living God, and I know that this place I am confined by in this temporal body is not my eternal home. My residence is in Heaven, with Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
Ephesians 2:19-22
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit"
Our perspective has everything to do with how we live and how we view people. I am finding this out more and more as each day passes.
from the coffee shop down the street,
JN
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