Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mat 16:24-26)

Fitness is a handy concept because it lumps everything that matters to natural selection (survival, mate-finding, reproduction) into one idea. The fittest individual is not necessarily the strongest, fastest, or biggest. A genotype’s fitness includes its ability to survive, find a mate, produce offspring-and ultimately leave its genes in the next generation. (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIE2Fitness.shtml)

I chose this quote from a site on evolution as a good contrast with what Jesus said, not because I’m interested in arguing about evolution, but because so many people today simply accept scientific statements as the basis of truth. As a theory to explain variation within the species “natural selection” is OK, but doesn’t really say all that much when you think about it. It just says that those individuals that have traits suited to their environment are more likely to survive in that environment. Yawn. But wait - a lot of people want to take this fairly self-evident statement and build a whole philosophy around it. That’s a problem. Good science is not necessarily valid moral philosophy and we have to examine those “a priori assumptions” when we do philosophy.

The idea of “natural selection” starts with an assumption that most people never even think about. It seems so obvious, so “natural” that most people don’t even see the assumption. The assumption is embedded in the statement I quoted above: “ability to survive.” The basic metaphysical assumption of the theory of evolution is that everything is driven by a desire to survive. Period. No questions are asked or allowed about that; you are just supposed to ignore the fact they made that assumption and go on and do your lessons. Fine for science class, but it is BAD PHILOSOPY to do that.

First of all, the idea that life is “adapted” for survival is misleading. It is not. Here’s a clue: everything dies. So, what they mean by “ability to survive” is really “ability to reproduce and leave similar offspring.” Get the point? It’s not the survival of the individual that the theory of evolution is concerned with; it’s the survival of the species. Any trait that allows the species to continue from generation to generation is considered an advantage. So, that’s why I “yawn” at the whole thing. It may be interesting to some, but it tells me nothing of what I need to do as an individual. Worse, if you try and build moral philosophy on that assumption you end up with the conclusion that you are nothing more than a cog on a wheel, a bit player in the larger movement of the species called “human.” You don’t survive, but the species does, and thus the group is more important than the individual. Better hook up with the right group then, go along to get along, compromise to gain a survival advantage, eat the healthiest food, and have lots of sex, etc. So, it’s easy to understand why the elitists, socialists and communists love the theory of evolution.

The teaching of Jesus concerns itself with individual moral choice, and the survival of the individual soul, not group association or species survival. The question He raises is, “What are you to do with your life?” The answer for most, unfortunately, is to have lots of physical comforts, and the better you are at getting “stuff” the more successful you are considered to be. That was the situation Jesus described in this parable.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luk 12:16-21)

It’s so obvious, yet so many people seem to ignore the fact that “you can’t take it with you.” Once you accept the materialistic philosophy that there is no existence beyond this physical existence, you are pretty much doomed to a life like the man in the story. Just when you think you got it made, something irritating thing (like dying) comes along and it’s all over. Or, you can’t get enough food and sex, and so what’s the point? Your life was spent seeking a goal you can never attain. You desired to survive and failed. Game over. Thanks for playing. Move out of the way so the next guy can try…

Once we realize that the physical state of existence is temporary, we have to face and answer the question, “What’s the point?” This troubles many people, it seems, and they can’t quite grasp the Christian idea of “dying to self” because it appears contradictory. Why should I be born, struggle to survive, and then die? How you answer the question determines your course in this life and eternity.

Unfortunately, Christian teaching often diminishes this question to something trivial. Life, they will tell you, is about survival. But since you don’t survive, you better get to Heaven so that you can survive. Ok, fine, that’s true, but…

WHAT AM I TO DO IN THE MEANTIME? I got my “salvation” and I’m all set for eternity, so just live it up here and now? Nope. This life does have a point beyond physical comforts, beyond getting God’s approval so that you get to heaven. Life is more than just slogging through to get to heaven when you die. If that’s all life was, I would conclude life’s just a cruel joke played on us by a malicious deity. So, what is it? What’s it all about?

What it’s ALL ABOUT is God’s glory.

God’s infinite being is manifested through His creation. Time and space and causality shows His nature. The physical laws of the universe give it a remarkable stability, an expression of God’s reason. No matter what happens, things eventually will balance back out, and the universe keeps chugging along, doing its thing. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In other words, the physical universe inherently seeks “justice.”

So, stop thinking “physical” for a moment and look at God’s nature as “moral.” His moral nature is hinted at in the structure of all things, but is not made truly manifest through inanimate things or the animals. They act on instinct, not moral choice. Morality, to be truly expressed, requires a choice. You can do what is moral, or not. We humans are the ones faced with moral choice, and thus we can manifest God’s moral nature in a limited, physical, space-time existence. We are the “image and likeness” of the creator because we can do that. OK? We are not “adapted” to a physical existence as the rocks, and animals and plants are. Our consciousness and moral sense lifts us up from that level. We are “adapted” to expressing the eternal things of God - reason, intelligence, creativity, moral choice, and above all - love.

Love in it’s full understanding is not “you-make-me-feel-good-so-I-love-you” kind of thing. That’s a selfish idea of love. Love as God talks about is a denial of self for the benefit of another’s need. That’s not exactly what the evolutionist thinks motivates our actions is it? Obviously, the theory needs some work, but we are motivated by moral concerns, not just physical survival or survival of the species.

Truly, those of a spiritual, eternal nature, are not always well adapted to this world. We don’t seem to fit in anywhere. That’s because we are adapted to something else. We are adapted to eternity and eternal existence with God. We are here for a time to make that nature of God manifest in limited form. And, when men stop obsessing over physical things and physical survival, and begin to concentrate on the things of eternity, amazing stuff can happen. Life is not a terrible thing. It is not a struggle-to-survive-and-then-you-die thing. It is a wonderful opportunity to express the nature of God. All you have to do is lose YOUR life and let HIS life flow through you. That’s what happens when you LOVE GOD and His glory is more important to you than anything else. His promise is that if we will LOVE HIM, not the physical self, He will see to our physical needs.

And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. … If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Luk 12:22-31)

Did you catch that part about “ye of little faith?” Living this way requires something called “faith.”

And the result is called “righteousness.”

“The just shall live by faith.”

When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.” In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man, one of his own people. He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand. When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?” The man replied, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Surely what I did has become known.” When Pharaoh heard about this event, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well. (Exo 2:10-15)

Up, down, up down. That was the life of Moses. First he is born among the lowest class in Egypt, but because of his mother’s love (and a little sleight of hand) Moses is raised among the elite of Egypt, eventually living in the household of Pharaoh as a son. Things looked pretty good for Moses, Up on the Top of the World.

But then Moses had to go and do something stupid. He never forgot his beginnings, and no doubt saw himself as the protector of his people, the Hebrews. I think it was already in the heart and mind of Moses that he would be the deliverer of the Israelites from Egypt. Probably, he figured that his connections with the powerful elite would be just the thing needed to get better conditions for his people.  Unfortunately, his temper got the best of him. So, he killed a guy and covered it up. That’s pretty bad, but look at the next part. When Moses tries to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrews, one of the men turns to Moses with disdain. “Who made you judge over us?” Yeah, right, Moses! I suspect Moses was already going around acting the part of deliverer on his own initiative. Maybe the text doesn’t say that directly, but it’s certainly implied. Unfortunately, Moses had to take it on the run, and it sure looks like Moses was wrong to play the hero with his own people.

So, he winds up in the desert, married, taking care of the sheep. That’s not exactly the image we would have of a powerful man, called by God to be a deliverer, now is it? Nope. Normally we look for the guy with the money, the prominence, the access to power if we are looking for someone to help us. Moses had all that, but threw it away, so he sure doesn’t look like somebody all that important at this point. But wait, there’s more…

And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them. So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He replied, “Surely I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve God on this mountain.” (Exo 3:9-12)

Well, now that’s strange. (You don’t think so?) Moses was previously in just the right position to be the deliverer of Egypt, and you would think that God would have had Moses rise up then and there to get the job done. Instead, it is only after Moses has been run out of Egypt, rejected by his own people, living a simple life in the desert does God decide that Moses will deliver the people of Israel. Why is it that when Moses is reduced to insignificance that he gets to encounter the “Burning Bush?” See what I mean about strange? To our way of thinking, God should have taken advantage of Moses when Moses was in a position to do something. But, now, in the desert, stripped of his wealth and political connections, what can Moses possibly do? Hmmm…

Think of this: Moses had originally tried to make things better for the Israelites through his own power with disastrous results. Had Moses been successful, the Israelites would have been much better off. In fact, I suspect they would have felt nice and comfortable in Egypt and would not have cried out to God for a deliverer. Why would they want to go back to Canaan, with all the competition and inevitable struggles when they had it good in Egypt? Get it? God’s plan to deliver the Israelites and make them his oracle of revelation would have never got off the ground if Moses had done things his way.

Only when Moses has given up his own idea about how Israel would be delivered can God go to work and accomplish a miracle of deliverance. That means that Moses had to be humbled. He had to give up all notions of delivering Israel through his own power. By the time Moses encounters the burning bush, he has learned the lesson.

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He replied, “Surely I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve God on this mountain.” (Exo 3:11-12)

On his own, Moses could never get the job done. But God tells him “I will be with you.” That’s the difference. That’s the thing Moses needed to understand. It wasn’t Moses that was the deliverer of Israel; it was God. Moses was only the instrument, and to be that instrument of God’s provision, Moses first had to be reduced to humility in the desert. Then God could raise him up in power to accomplish God’s will.

That’s the story repeated many times in the Bible. Abraham, Jacob, Job, David, Jonah, Elijah, and all the other great heroes of the Bible had to go through this process. They had to learn that things would not get done unless they first let go of their own way of doing things and relied solely on God to get the job done. It doesn’t seem fair sometimes, to some people, that God requires his servants to be abased to the lowest level first. But that is exactly what God did. He lowered himself to our level through the person of Jesus Christ. He became the perfect, humble servant, willing to die a criminal’s death, just for us. That’s the model we are given for our own lives.

Few of us have the calling of Moses or David or Elijah. But all have a calling of some sort. It may be that we are to serve the needs of those around us, giving comfort and hope and understanding when needed. Or, it may be that at some point you will be called to stand before crowds of thousands and tell of God’s message. The size of the work isn’t the point. The point is that we can only accomplish God’s will and fulfill our calling when we do it as a humble servant. We have to reach the point that Moses did, where we say, “Who am I to do these things?” Then, and only then, can God get the point across, “You can’t, but I can.”

So, it comes down to this. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you have to rush out and do something enormous and prominent so that you can demonstrate your calling by God. Wait. Wait on God to call. Be willing to do the most humble and insignificant things if asked. Like Jesus said,

But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luk 14:10-11)

As with most of the Bible, it is paradoxical when looked at with a worldly view. We are not to exalt ourselves, but because of that will be exalted. If you want to “do something important” for God, don’t think that it means getting noticed, gathering a following, or being somehow prominent. Most likely, it means taking out the trash, cleaning up the mess, and generally going unnoticed most of the time. But, if you become humbly faithful in whatever little things God asks you to do, the day will come when He says, “Come up here, good and faithful servant.”

And you just never know what you might end up doing.