He Created Us Whole - We Are Born Broken

“This is what it really comes down to ... if this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he'll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”

That was a quote from a Christian artist who, as recently as five years ago, came out and admitted he was gay.

Really?  Does God really make people sinful?

It’s crazy that so many people, so many Christians, are buying into this idea that God made me gay, or God made me anything other than a vessel created to worship Him.  I mean, it would be like an alcoholic going around drunk everywhere and rationalizing it because God made him with an addictive personality.  Or a kleptomaniac stealing everything he sees and rationalizing it because God wired his brain so that he would want to steal.

C’mon people.  God doesn’t create us to sin.  According to James, God can’t even tempt us to sin.  James 1:13-14 (NIV) “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”

A lot of Christians have fallen into the trap of… no, I don’t want to use those words.  A lot of Christians have made a conscious decision to try to marry socially accepted behaviors (sin) with God’s Word.  They’ll argue, “Well, some theologians will interpret”… so… what, theologians can’t be wrong?  Theologians can’t be self-pleasers and want to rationalize what their heart wants with what God’s Word says?

I’m not tryin’ to judge anyone here, because I stand to be judged the most; but as Christians we all are guilty of this rationalization theology.  We rationalize not being good stewards with the monetary allowance God has blessed us with because buying this or that will make us feel good… and God wants us to feel good; right?  We rationalize drinkin’ just a little too much because the Bible says in Ephesians 5:18-19a (NIV), “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”  So catching a “buzz” is okay; right?  We rationalize living together and sex before marriage because then we can make a better informed decision about our potential partner and not run as much of a risk as sinning with a divorce later on… ‘cause divorce is a sin; right?

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 139:14 (NIV), “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”  Notice he does not say, “fearfully and wonderfully and sinfully made.”  We, myself included, need to stop trying to rationalize what we want with what God wants for us.

God created me whole. My brokenness is inherited. How I respond is my choice. I can choose to surrender my brokenness to His holiness, or I can choose to spend my inheritance. I choose to surrender... daily.