Prelude

I think it should be said that repent doesn’t mean stop sinning because that’s impossible. It’s change your mind about it. For example, I used to drink, I don’t anymore I repented, doesn’t mean that I will never sin again, I pray I never do again by drinking, but if I do, it doesn’t mean my repentance was fake. It means I’m weak and gave into temptation, but Jesus died for that sin too. Endure all hardship as a good soldier in Christ, and know that you have an advocate in Christ Jesus for your sins, all of them. Just have faith.

Someone left this on my car

I hear many Christians talking about “ego” lately and "killing the ego" as a prerequisite for spiritual advancement, almost replacing the biblical "flesh" with "ego" which when understood in its correct context are not the same. Some even go so far as to say that ego death is really what Jesus was teaching. We must be careful not to cross over into beliefs or practices that cannot be scripturally supported. There is a real point of contact between biblical Christianity and what modern people call “ego,” but there is also a point where the concept can quietly smuggle an entirely different anthropology into Christianity. That is where things can begin drifting toward something recognizably Gnostic. The key question is what exactly we mean by “ego.” If by ego we mean pride, self-exaltation, obsessive self-concern, the desire to control, the need to be admired, or making oneself the center of reality, then Christianity is profoundly opposed to it. But if by ego we mean the individual self, personality, personal identity, embodiment, rational consciousness, or simply the awareness that “I am me,” then Christianity does not teach that the self is an illusion that must disappear. That distinction is enormous. Jesus says: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23 Paul says: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Galatians 2:20 Removed from the rest of Scripture, language like this can sound almost like mystical ego-annihilation. But notice what Paul actually says: “Nevertheless I live.” Paul does not cease being Paul. His individuality is not dissolved into God. The Christian movement is not: individual self → non-self It is: self-rule → Christ’s rule It is not: personhood → disappearance of personhood It is: old man → new man Christian salvation preserves and restores personal identity. Abraham remains Abraham. Moses remains Moses. Peter remains Peter. At the resurrection, you are raised. Christianity therefore contains a paradox: you must lose your life to find it. But what is found is not an impersonal divine consciousness. It is the human person restored to his proper relationship with God. This is where the modern concept of ego can begin drifting into Gnosticism. Historical Gnosticism existed in many forms, but recurring themes included the superiority of spirit over matter, hidden knowledge, an inner divine reality buried beneath ordinary existence, and salvation through awakening or knowledge. That creates a very tempting Christianized formula: "The real problem is not sin. The problem is ego. The real solution is not reconciliation with God. It is awakening. Christ does not primarily save you. Christ shows you how to discover your true divine nature." And eventually: "The real you is God, Christ-consciousness, the divine spark, or pure awareness beneath the ego." At that point Christianity has been turned almost completely inside out. Biblically, the fundamental distinction is: Creator / creature. Gnosticizing spirituality tends to replace that distinction with: higher self / lower self. Those are radically different maps of reality. Christianity says God is God, and you are His creature. The creature can be united to God, indwelt by God, sanctified by God, adopted by God, and ultimately glorified by God. But the creature never discovers that he was secretly God all along. There is another irony here. The attempt to “overcome the ego” can itself become an enormous ego project. Someone begins by wanting humility. Then they become fascinated with consciousness, spiritual awakening, mystical states, hidden meanings, symbolic interpretation, secret spiritual principles, and increasingly sophisticated levels of enlightenment. Eventually Christianity becomes divided into two classes: the awakened and the unenlightened. Now the person who began by trying to transcend pride has simply found a more sophisticated reason to feel superior. Paul warned about exactly this danger: “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” 1 Corinthians 8:1 And: “For I say… to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” Romans 12:3 You can become extraordinarily proud of having transcended pride. The ego can put on religious clothing and walk straight back through the door. Instead of boasting: “I am rich.” It boasts: “I am spiritually awake.” Instead of: “I am better than you.” It says: “You are still trapped in ego.” And perhaps the greatest ego claim of all is: “I have no ego.” Christianity’s diagnosis of the human condition is deeper than the modern concept of ego. The biblical categories include pride, self-will, vainglory, selfish ambition, self-righteousness, the flesh, the old man, hardness of heart, and covetousness. The problem is not that having a self is evil. The problem is that the self is disordered. Sin enthrones the self. Creation becomes idolized. God is displaced. The solution is therefore not the destruction of personal identity, but the reordering of love and allegiance. God first. Neighbor genuinely loved. Self understood soberly. Jesus even assumes a legitimate love of self when He says: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:39 Christianity is also profoundly opposed to Gnosticism in its view of the physical world. A Gnosticizing spirituality often identifies the “real me” with consciousness or spirit while treating the body, personality, emotions, and material existence as lower, false, or imprisoning. Christianity teaches almost the opposite. God created matter. God called creation good. God became flesh. Christ ate, slept, suffered, bled, died, and physically rose from the dead. And the Christian hope is not escape from embodiment. It is resurrection. John even makes the incarnation a theological dividing line: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” 1 John 4:2 The Christian hope is not: escape the body and discover the divine self within. It is: God redeems the whole human creature. Body included. There is, however, a legitimate Christian use of the word ego. If someone says: “My ego wants praise, control, recognition, superiority, and Christ is teaching me to surrender those things,” that is perfectly compatible with Christianity. If someone means: “I need to stop interpreting everything according to my own desires and submit myself to God,” that is thoroughly Christian. Philippians 2 tells believers: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” Christ Himself is presented as the supreme model of humility: “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” So Christianity absolutely contains something that might loosely be called the death of ego. But its destination is obedience, love, humility, and communion with God.Not enlightenment into metaphysical non-duality. That is the fork in the road. Biblical Christianity says: The self is created. Pride corrupts the self. Sin separates man from God. Salvation comes through Christ. God and man remain distinct. Christ is uniquely God incarnate. Creation is fundamentally good. The body will be resurrected. Revelation is given in Christ. Humility means submission to God. Gnosticizing ego spirituality tends to say: The ordinary self is illusion. Ego itself is the fundamental problem. Ignorance hides man’s true nature. Salvation comes through awakening. The distinction between God and man becomes blurred. Christ becomes a model of awakened consciousness. Material existence becomes lower or imprisoning. Spirit must escape bodily identity. Hidden knowledge reveals deeper truth. Humility becomes dissolution of individuality. The differences can sound subtle at first, but they eventually produce two completely different religions. Christianity’s answer to excessive ego is not endless fascination with the ego. The New Testament repeatedly directs the believer’s attention outward: toward Christ, toward God, toward your neighbor, toward service, toward truth, toward love. You do not cure self-obsession by becoming endlessly fascinated with the architecture of your own consciousness. You dethrone the self by placing Someone infinitely greater at the center. John the Baptist may therefore give one of the clearest biblical descriptions of what people today are often trying to express with the language of “ego death”: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 Not: I must cease to exist. But: I must cease trying to occupy God’s throne. And that distinction separates Christian self-denial from a great deal of spirituality that borrows Christian language while quietly moving toward Gnosticism.