Dying to Yourself

What is "dying to self" really?

Most if not all of my articles on this blog have dealt with redefining core principals and concepts of Christianity to reflect what Jesus actually taught, rather than the cultural traditions of our ancestors. Some of these concepts are simple and some are a bit more complex; all of them should sound extreme to you.

I have written about surrender in the past but today I want to write about just how deep this rabbit hole goes so to speak.

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" - Matthew 16:25-26

This verse is often quoted today in reference to acting blatantly selfish to the detriment of others, or to denying some amount of success or wealth so as to not lose sight of family and relationships. The true context of this quote runs much deeper than just adhering to culturally established virtues (family values, modesty, courtesy, etc...). What Jesus was teaching us was about the idea of dying to one's self.

When we think of "dying to self" we often think of laying down or abstaining from all of our self centered and selfish desires. We often think of it as a chore or a really difficult practice to put our flesh to death daily. This however is too narrow an understanding of the concept of dying to self. When we are invited to die to self we are being invited to surrender our lives to become transformed to be more like Him, not just the things that we can label as blatantly sinful. This means that we kill off some of the things that our cultures and families count as good and virtuous.

"But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead." - Philippians 3:7-11

At least in the American context, many of us have been taught to both define ourselves, and chart a course for our lives based on our natural talents that we dutifully refer to as "gifts". We come to an understanding that when we don't hear God's voice, or we are unsure of what He wants us to do with our lives that we can use these gifts to determine our purpose and trajectory. The problem with this is that when we choose to die to self, those things die too. We have to face the fact that God does not need our gifts, talents, or passions to complete His work. More often than not, He is calling us away from spending our lives developing a career or skill because you have it. In fact, if we learn anything from the biblical narrative it is that our natural giftings are of very little consequence. Moses was not a public speaker, yet that was what God asked him to do (even though he refused - Exodus 4:12-14). Jesus was a carpenter by trade and Peter was a fisherman. Paul had one of the greatest educations available in his time and consciously chose to renounce his earthly gifting and furthermore count it all as loss (Philippians 3:7-11, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). None of these men were remembered or revered for their careers/giftings; they sought something more than their own development - surrender. Instead of building themselves up, they went lower, picked up their crosses and went forward in following the will of the Father.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

Dying to yourself means much more than just denying sinful desires, it means dying and being reborn as a follower of Jesus. It means forsaking what you thought you understood about the world and yourself to learn to see through His eyes. It is not about making yourself useful, it's about being usable. It is about losing yourself - even the parts of yourself you are trying to hold onto.

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." - Galatians 5:24

This does not mean that God cannot re-purpose or use our gifts at all. But it does mean that we cannot truly use them for Him until we let go of them completely (and are content even if He never asks us to use them). He is not looking for a skilled person who wants to serve both God and himself. He is looking for those willing to lay down and die no matter what He asks them to do. He is looking for the skilled carpenters, fishermen, and scholars who are ready to spend their lives as nomads, sojourners, and part-time workers if it means the kingdom will be advanced.

People often ask why the church is not more involved in taking care of the widows, orphans, feeding the hungry and taking care of the sick (James 1:27, Isaiah 58:7, Luke 3:11, Luke 12:33) when it is what Jesus and the apostles did and asked us to do. The answer is because the church has become convinced that by building itself up it will be successful. Many believers waste away their years building careers, businesses, organizations, educations, churches, and ministries that will amount to nothing in eternity. They are kingdoms made of dust that will crumble when this world passes and our King returns. They have taken their talents and buried them (Matthew 25:14-30). And in their pursuit of their own gifts, they have no time or resources for the things that our King asked of us. They have not chosen to die to self but to try and serve God in a way He has not asked them to serve, because they have not emptied themselves and died to be able to hear Him and what He is asking. This is not loving or honoring our God - loving Him would be obeying Him and doing for Him what He asked of us, regardless of the customs or cultures we come from.

But there is still hope. Here is my question: what do you need to let go of? What is it that you think God has blessed you with that you have actually fought to build for yourself? Take some time this week to really seek to learn more about who God is as a person and what He is actually asking you to follow Him into; rather than assume that whatever isn't sinful is right on track. He is waiting for you to let go of who you think you are, and what the world has told you to be and step into the reality of eternity. All you need to do is surrender it ALL and ask Him.