There is a
cultural phenomenon sweeping through our world today, and I think it can best be
epitomized by a comment made by Taylor Swift in an interview discussing her hit
music video “Shake it Off.” The comment was, “I wanted it to be—kind
of—unapologetic about like, ‘you don’t like me for being who I am, watch me be
who I am more.’” [1]
It’s the
phenomenon of being who you are… unapologetically. Some female celebrities who
have spearheaded this phenomenon are Jennifer Lawrence (known for her wacky
behavior and outspoken nature on unhealthy body image), Taylor Swift (quoted
above), Miley Cyrus (whose antics are well known). Many pop-stars fall into
this mold. Justin Beiber is so used to steering into the skid that he decided
to strip at a fashion show because he was being booed.[2]
Talk about individuality!
It’s a
philosophy that says, “I’m not going to let other people tell me who to be. I’m
going to decide who I am.” The hilarious and ironic subtext of this proposal is
that most decide to be who they are by being the opposite of what everyone
tells them to be, which means that they are still allowing public opinion to
determine their personality.
It’s also a
philosophy that has been adopted by the homosexual community, the transgender
community, and the feminist community. From the feminists we often hear
‘positive’ descriptions of women who live by this philosophy as strong, sassy,
feisty, and independent. From the homosexual community we hear comments about
being ‘born that way’ and the transgender community says that it’s wrong not to
be true to ‘who you are on the inside.’
The problem
with a philosophy like this is that it encourages people to look to themselves
to determine right behavior. Unfortunately, the self is corrupt and wicked. Rene
Descartes’ fatal idea ‘I think therefore I am,’ has encouraged humanity down
through the ages to turn inward for the source of truth instead of turning to
the author of truth, and we see the imports of such a philosophy lived out in
our culture.
Pop stars
hump on stage in the name of individuality. Chemicals are being spread through
the streets in the name of freedom and control over one’s own body. The sexual
revolution has caused a movement toward promiscuity that would be coma inducing
to the nineteenth century. Porn stars are encouraged to speak out about the
positive effects of the porn industry, and no one is the wiser. Some ex porn
stars are quoted to say, “It is time that our society comes to grips with the
fact that ‘normal’ people, women especially, enjoy perverse sex.” And
encouraging people to defile themselves in the same way, with testimonials
like, “I have a huge appetite for sex and self-exploration. I wanted to express
my sexuality as a strong woman, to push my own boundaries and see which part of
my psyche would take me to my next euphoric sexual experience. I wanted to do
all of this in a sex-positive way.”[3]
All of this is in the name of the self. We promote the
self as the standard for right and wrong and invite those who disagree to go to
hell, never realizing the irony of such an invitation, or the company that our
invitees will inevitably have.
All that to say something very simple: We are wrong.
In one sense, this philosophy may
be a correct one to hold. Sometimes it is good to have a thick skin. We should
not let hateful, slanderous, and evil speech from other people change our
behavior. However, the important thing in the above statement is the phrase
“hateful, slanderous, and evil.” By and large, correction of behavior is a good
thing, and the source is usually one of love and a desire to see goodness
prevail.
The point is this: We don’t
determine what’s right and what’s wrong. We don’t determine morality. Morality
is a standard independent of human thought. The standard for good and evil cannot
be found in ourselves. People who follow this philosophical phenomenon like to
say that ‘they choose what’s right for them and ain’t nobody gonna tell them
differently.’ But the moment they are wronged by another person on this same
basis, they change their tune. Unfortunately, they are simply wrong. We can’t
live by what we think is right, we have to try to live by what actually is right. The question is, how
do we know what is right? What is the standard for morality? Where can this
standard be found?
It can only be found in three
places. 1) The character of God. 2) The person of Jesus Christ. 3) The Bible,
which is the inerrant record of the first two.
It is a
true fact that all people (with one exception) have an inherently (literally…
it’s inherited) sinful nature and so cannot conform perfectly to the standard
called ‘good’ by themselves. So what should we do? Should we cling more tightly
to the screwed up self, becoming more resolved to sin until our dying day? By
no means!
The correct
course of action is to change the self. To trade in the old, dirty, beat-up,
corrupted self for a new one. To daily renew our minds so that we may be able to prove
what the will of God is. In essence, we need to do the opposite of what
cultural philosophy tells us to do. We need to turn to somewhere other than
ourselves to tell us how to live. We need to fall on our knees and repent, turn
away from, deny, reject, what comes naturally to ourselves and follow Jesus
Christ. That’s the solution.
Our culture
is evidence that the other method doesn’t work. You don’t have to look very far
to see that things are messed up, and we’ve been trying it the other way for a
while now… Why not try it God’s way instead?
A final word along this thought process: Don’t be who you
are, be someone better than that. I don’t want to be “who I am,” I want to be
who God says I am. Who I am sucks, and if I had to be him my whole life, I
would be headed for disaster. God save us from ourselves and the urge to be
ourselves unapologetically.
[1]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29BjQKBGAw
This is the interview and the comment was made at 3:19.
[3]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2340248/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Both are quotes from Sasha Grey, a porn star turned main stream actress who is a
vocal proponent of pornography consumption.
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