Who is really in charge of your life?

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

I was reading an article on theatlantic.com (the online home of The Atlantic magazine) the other day entitled “Hating Queerness Without Hating the Queer” by Emma Green. The author was writing about what the relationship between LGBT supporters and religiously conservative Americans might look like now that gay marriage is legal and the transgender movement is moving forward. I found the article to be very interesting and respectful in its tone, but there was one section in particular that made me think. Here are Green’s words, discussing the viewpoint of Al Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:

Mohler talks a lot about the rise of what he calls “the autonomous self”—the idea that people should be able to determine who they are and make their own choices about how and when they have sex. This is the basic premise of every gay-rights movement, but it’s fundamentally at odds with the way Mohler and certain other evangelicals see the world. “[People] want to know why biblically-minded Christians can’t buy into the modern concept of sexual orientation as it’s presented, or an understanding of gender as entirely socially constructed,” he said. “But the distinction is actually more fundamental: It’s whether or not we are autonomous selves who define our own identity, or whether we’re creatures who are defined by a creator.”

Think about that last line and its implications, not only for the sexual revolution but also for every other area of your life. I think Mohler is correct: the offense underlying every other offense to our culture is the belief that God created us and that God defines us and knows what is best for us. If this is true, then the fundamental questions about everything in our lives – sexuality, money, time, relationships, work, etc. – is not “what do I want to do” but “what does God want me to do.” As Christians, we believe that God has revealed His will for our lives in the Bible. Once we have read and understood His will for our sexuality, money, time, relationships, work, etc., then the next fundamental question is “will I obey what God wants me to do, trusting that He loves me and knows what is best for me” or “will I disobey what God wants me to do, believing that I know better than He does what is best for me.”

Our culture prizes freedom, elevates the individual, and preaches the pursuit of happiness. The underlying current is one of relativism, that there is no right or wrong path, no overarching truth in life, but that each individual gets to choose the path that is best for them. And, consequently, no one has the right to tell another individual that their path is wrong. That is why there can be such virulent opposition to “judgmental” Christians who dare to claim that there is a right and wrong that stands outside of the individual, and by which every individual will be judged.

The Bible declares that you are not your own. You are God’s creation. And if you are in Christ, you belong to Him. Therefore, the real question you must answer about every area of your life is not “What do I want to do” but “What does God want me to do?”