Dying to Self — what do you reckon, God?

DANGEROUS QUESTION # 7

God, what do you think about all this talk about ‘dying to self’? It’s a constant vibe among Christians.

How many people do you know who ‘Die to Themselves’ on a regular basis?

Well…

No, come on, be honest!

Ok, well I know a number of people who say no to tasty but essentially unhealthy food.

And are they predominantly Christians?

Actually, no, they’re predominantly not. They’re just everyday people who care about their health and want to live longer.

Interesting, so how many Christians do you know who regularly and intentionally deprive themselves of what they really want in other areas?

Do you mean things like shelter, food, love, sex, enjoyment of life, those sorts of things?

Yes, exactly. How many Christians do you know who find a home they love and can afford, but choose not to buy it in order to ‘die to self’? Go on, how many?

Well, certainly none that I know of. If they don’t get the home they want it’s because the bank won’t give them the money, that’s normally the reason anyway.

Yes it is, probably more like ‘dying to the bank’ than dying to self. But if they can afford it and they want it, you seldom see people saying no to what they would love and can afford?

Yes, correct.

Ok, what about sex, how many Christians do you know, including the ones who are constantly on about ‘dying to self’, who are happily married, but deprive themselves of sexual enjoyment because they are ‘dying to self’.

Well, I don’t generally talk at that level with people, but I would say, at a guess, no one?

Good guess. Maybe one in a thousand. The others, if they’re not enjoying a happy sex life it’s because of some problem in their relationship they should do their best to solve, not because of some mythical desire to ‘die to self’.

So, that one in a thousand person going without a healthy sex life in order to please you, does that really please you??

Normally no, of course not. There’s seldom a good reason for depriving yourself of the home you want to buy and can afford, and the same goes for saying no to sexual enjoyment with the partner you love, and for so many other things that make life enjoyable and fun. Certainly not for my sake! I gave you the desire for all those things for goodness sake, so why on earth would I want you not to have them?

Christians and most other religions think they need to deprive themselves of the things they desire because they have been taught they don’t deserve them, that I am essentially unhappy with humanity and that self-sacrifice is required to appease my anger.

The idea is nonsense and those who shout it the loudest are the least likely to follow it. Instead, they try and load the burden of going without onto others, teaching them that I will like them better if they ‘die to self’.

Luke 11:46: “Woe to you, you experts in the law, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”

PS: DEAR READER — Two Tips to make it easier to have your own back and forth conversation with God.

TIP # 1: Write out your question to God and then, don’t wait for the answer to come, start writing trusting God to supply the answer as you write.

TIP # 2: Remember it’s a conversation, not a subservient prayer. Yes, sure, you’re talking with God, but it’s a conversation. So, just like you would in a conversation with any other friend, when you’re not convinced by what you hear you should most definitely challenge it.

If you think you’ve made up what you’ve written, you should write something like, ‘God, I think I made that up’, then write what comes. Do that again and again until you feel in your gut, no matter how unlikely it seems, that what you’ve written is God. TEST THE SPIRITS AND ASK AND KEEP ON ASKING. Both are things that the apostles and Jesus made clear are very important.

The reason I publish these conversations with God is he seemed to say that anyone reading them would be able to see that if someone as mixed up as Mark Holloway could have a back and forth conversation with God ( like a friend ), then surely they could too.