Put Off the Old Man From Yourselves

Saturday, January 10, 2004

When I came back to our home in Germany after military service and after my mother, I was met with a very interesting scene in the bathroom. In the middle of the bathroom stood dirty laundry piled up like a pointed mountain. I looked to see whose it might be—it was all my wife’s. A person could not go through that much laundry in a week or so. I had been away for three months, and my wife had not washed a single load of laundry for three months! And there is an automatic washing machine and all. She just hadn’t washed it. It’s as though it is my destiny to see something interesting everywhere I go! My mother’s moving, and then this kind of situation when I return home. And these are just the ones that are immediately visible. When I was at home, I was the one who washed the laundry in the machine. Not everyone attached the same importance to the things I considered important. That is why the people around me just love to make me out to be some kind of madhouse lunatic, and my mother most of all! And life is always full of nasty surprises. But do take the things I’m recounting here merely as a joke.

I think about how, even without being taught, some things are simply present or absent in people by nature. I am writing this not to understand it in the sense of fatalism, but to emphasize that the weaknesses everyone must struggle against exist by nature, from birth. Those books that we believe to be the word of God are constantly encouraging us to make changes toward being good, indeed to change our personalities entirely. For instance, on this subject a verse came to my mind. The apostle Paul says the following to the believers in Ephesus:

...put away the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, in accordance with your former manner of life; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24, old translation.

The apostle Paul, inspired by God’s spirit, commands a change that everyone must make. That is, he says we must cast off our former personality like an old garment, and put on, like a new garment, the personality that accords with God’s will. To whom is he writing this? Only to that small community living in Ephesus at the time? No—in fact, to all humanity. No one is born automatically with only good qualities. Nor is anyone born entirely, from head to toe, with bad qualities. However great the influence of the environment we live in may be, God emphasizes that everyone must most certainly struggle in order to be freed from the negative effects it produces in us. And is it only the influence of our environment? Setting aside the inheritance of sin we received from our very forefather Adam, our own sins also play a very great role. However strong we may be against outside influences, in reality our defeat by the weaknesses within us—in our own selves, in our flesh—comes about more easily. Who does not have these weaknesses? This is so whether we are the child of the greatest king seated on a throne, and it is so whether we are a street child belonging to parents who cannot find a slice of bread. In short, by coming into the world we are born into the midst of a war. If we love life and love God, we must most certainly fight this war. And this war is not fought with cannons and rifles. It is a spiritual war; it is not like a war of flesh and blood. For this reason, the sole cause of the evil things that dominate our earth—injustice, wars, hatreds, jealousies, dissatisfaction, corruption, and so on—is not man alone. As I mentioned at the beginning of my book, what must one be in order not to see that a spiritual being is very influential in this matter? Perhaps in order not to see, not to understand, one would have to be blind and lacking in understanding. Because the book says plainly:

Finally, be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the whole armor that God provides, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil.

For our struggle is not against people, but against the rulerships, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual armies of wickedness in the heavenly places. For this reason, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day and, having done everything necessary, to stand your ground.

So stand firm, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the readiness to spread the good news of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of Satan. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, that is, the word of God. With every kind of prayer and supplication, pray at all times under the direction of the spirit. To this end, stay awake with complete devotion, making supplication for all the holy ones. Ephesians 6:10-18

In the old days, the knights who went to war with sword and shield would protect their waists, their chests, from their heads down to their feet. They wore heavy armor so that they would not easily be wounded. Setting out from this comparison, the apostle speaks not of literal armor, but of protection related to spiritual values. For example, he speaks of girding ourselves with truth. Do we love the truth? He likens righteousness to armor. Yet as armor humanity has always resorted to lies. They have tried to protect themselves with lies. This armor of righteousness must also be placed on the chest, because both the lie and righteousness come from the heart. Lies are certainly not a protection for us, and will not be. Yet we imagine they are, in the short term. By saying “we must shod our feet with the good news of peace,” he means that our steps must direct us toward spreading the good news called God’s good news. And in order to be able to do this, we must first learn ourselves the good news we are going to proclaim. And after that, we must not be lazy shepherds who sit in place with that knowledge only pasturing themselves; we must do something. (The whole of Ezekiel chapter 34) And by this I do not mean resembling the Witnesses who go from door to door hypocritically with the Bible in their hands. What they believe is: “Everyone, every religion is bad, only we are right and good. You may disparage everyone, but do not say a single word to us”—if that isn’t hypocrisy, then what is it? In this way, let alone saving people, even if those people were worthy of salvation, in time, through the teachings of that organization, they become nothing but hypocritical, deceitful, faithless; and since the person is forced to sell himself completely for the organization, he comes to resemble only that harlot mentioned in the apostle John’s book of Revelation. (The whole of Revelation chapters 17 and 18) In short, if we want to remain in such places, we would also have to throw into the trash the words Paul spoke above. Those organizations already force a person into this. Let us not confuse the work of carrying the good news that God intends by looking at the Witnesses and their like. (Matthew 23:15) A person can develop faith in and love for God only with a free will, without being under fear and pressure. God does not want to force anyone. Had He wished, He Himself possesses the greatest power and might in this matter. That is why we must proclaim the good news we have learned to people as good news, in a manner worthy of and fitting to its name. To make a person accept, systematically and insidiously, by force, by pressure, by threat, something he does not believe; to stereotype all of his beliefs; and to produce out of those people a huge hypocritical army—that is not what it means to spread the good news, the glad tidings. And it is certainly no achievement. Because our world has more than enough disciplined, obedient armies, and is even overflowing with them. And the state we are in with these achievements we have obtained is plain to see. When I speak of force and pressure, let us not always understand these as necessarily some kind of brute force. To know human psychology and play with people’s consciences, to shape them purely for the sake of our own aims, is not, in our time, such a great feat of skill. Jesus Christ proclaimed this good news in a most beautiful manner; let us take Him as our example. (The whole of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7)

In addition to all of these, whatever it may be that would break our every courage, we must use faith like a shield. A shield becomes a bulwark, a protection, for a person, to block the blows that come. Can you imagine how many attacks someone who loves truth, reality, and peace will be subjected to? Once, a former American president’s asking, “Do you know what is more terrifying than a lie?” and answering, “The truth,” is a description that fits the course of our world. Because those people were deeply immersed in these affairs, they saw and knew very well what they were saying on this subject. However pleasant the qualities listed above may seem to us, when they are put into practice they will from time to time greatly enrage the people around us. That is why our faith must protect us like a shield not only against the anger directed at us, but in every kind of difficulty. Here too I am obliged to explain. People regard stopping up their ears to the true accusations directed at their own wrongdoings and at the religions to which they belong as the “shield of faith.” This in fact shows the very opposite—not our faith, but our lack of faith in the very things we are defending. A good and strong faith is developed by being open to every idea. Hiding, fleeing, plugging one’s ears are signs of faithlessness. And this situation generally stems from ignorance and indifference. I have not read of any prophet or man of God fleeing from such things. Keeping away from evil is one thing; a person speaking about and defending his faith is another thing. The Witnesses or fanatical religionists most of the time perceive these in a completely jumbled way. (1 Peter 3:15) These things are done by those who are afraid of, and who hate, the truth, the reality.

The apostle emphasizes that we must take the word of God as our sword, and that we must express this with every kind of prayer to God. Why does he say every kind of prayer here? Why doesn’t he say to repeat the same things like a parrot? Because situations and conditions will always develop in a different way. We will perceive those events in different ways. Here we must take care that our prayers always come from within, from our hearts, sincerely. Moreover, through prayers, in those things we plead for from God, we will also be building up ourselves.

For example, when we pray to God for paradise to come as soon as possible and for God’s will to be done on earth as well, we know that whether we pray for it or not, God will one day establish paradise anyway. Well then, why do we pray for something that is certainly going to happen? In reality, by this we are emphasizing how much we want that thing; we show how much we value that thing from our hearts, and by this we prepare ourselves for that desire and longing.

A father has ordered and purchased a bicycle for his child. But until it arrives, he has to wait a few days. Won’t the child now stand in front of bicycles similar to that one and look and look for a long time? Yet it has been bought, it will most certainly come, and he will ride it. Should he just sit and wait and not care at all? Is there such a child? Never mind children—I know men aged 45 who, though refined and well-off, have taken a flashlight and gone in the middle of the night to look at the new car or motorcycle they bought in the garage. Don’t these things show the value those people place on these things from the heart? Well, the apostle likewise encourages us so that our prayers may serve to express the things we value from the heart. Only let us be careful: OUR LORD is not the genie in Aladdin’s lamp. Rather than our prayers being merely our selfish desires, let us first consider whether or not they accord with God’s will.

And finally, the apostle encourages us to stay awake with complete devotion to these things. With complete wholeness, not in a divided way; with all sincerity, not half-heartedly.

So this is how the war we must fight ought to be. All of us are within this battlefield. Is it only those who believe in God who fight a war? In my opinion, the situation of those who do not believe and who fight a war for the ambitions directed at their own whims and desires is even harder. The nations of the world fight this war every day. Those wars of theirs become the subject of films, stories, and novels. The war for bread, the war for career, the war for advantage, the war of the sexes, the war for money, the war of nationalism and racism... Would there be an end to the list! Living is not easy.

Well then, can one remain passive, wanting to do nothing at all? By hiding on an island, in a place where no one is, in palaces with thick stone walls, in castles, in temples, can a person say, “I have stayed away from this war”? No. By this, at most, one only stays away from societies, from people. There are many who think, “Isn’t this enough?” The Holy Scriptures speak of three basic influences that affect us in a bad, negative direction. Our own self, that is, our flesh. The second is the influence of the world, that is, all the things that are in this world, the organized world system in which we live. As the third cause, Satan and his demons, that is, the spiritual beings in heaven. (Bible—James 3:15)

According to these truths, how are we to flee from ourselves, from our own selves? For those we call the heavenly spiritual creatures, Satan and the demons, neither an island nor a castle nor places like the depths of the earth are any concealment for them. Furthermore, if we are also to add our own weaknesses to these, it means we have no chance at all of fleeing. Some, in order to escape from all of it, choose death. I too had chosen this path. But I was hopeless, ignorant, helpless. I no longer had the strength to live with the things I possessed. But after I came to have knowledge, I understood that I had been mistaken. I thought, “Dying should not be this cheap.” Since I had put death in my pocket, then living the life after this for God would be far more meaningful and joy-giving than dying. And the most precious impulse is the love a person feels. Yes, when you love someone you come to life. I had felt this love, this indescribable admiration, toward God. And while striving to know Him, I was coming to know myself.

“What is this ‘knowing yourself’ supposed to mean!”—this seems funny to many people. In reality, we do not know ourselves. We only think we do. All of us, when faced with even a simple situation, will say beforehand, “If it were me, I would do this or that.” But when that situation occurs, one sees that one does very different things. One even does things one never thought of. People fall into such delusions countless times in their lives. And is it even possible for us humans to fully weigh all events, and also ourselves? We have emotions, we have fears, we have interests, we have pleasures—that is, we have our flesh—we have the anger we cannot hold in, we have our jealousies, our laziness, our gluttony, our greed, and on and on. These affect us so much that we do that very thing—the thing about which we said, “I would do this, I would do that”—in a completely different way. And this happens precisely when we are in the midst of the event. For the one who is outside of it, the situation is very simple and easy. I have known and heard of people with very strong faith who have passed through great trials, and yet, over very simple things, in an instant they cast away everything—all their faith, their love. To us it is very simple, but for that person to be brought down, to fall, it turns out this was enough. That is why let us not make light of the wrong things we try to hide. Those things we call so tiny, without our being aware of it, grow within us over time so much that a day comes when they confront us as a giant. We are defeated, when we least expect it, by that once-tiny thing within us. The germs that enter our bodies are also small, and their effects too begin small at first. Doctors, with their experience and knowledge, give medicines and antibiotics that will defeat that germ. Because they know that the smaller the germ is when they defeat it, the easier the patient’s recovery will also be. But if it is left alone, those illnesses that begin as though most insignificant can even lead a person to death. The various sins that arise in us can also be likened to this. If we do not take precautions and defeat it right at the start, it will defeat us. If we again consider the situation of Eve, our first mother, she too allowed this germ to grow within her. Here the thing that is like a germ was to possess a quality that belongs to God, by trespassing His command. In time it grew so much in her thoughts that, instead of resisting it, on the contrary she came to desire it terribly. She yielded to that desire that ruled over her flesh, and she took the fruit that was forbidden to eat, and she ate it. And she did not stop at eating; she drew her husband too into the same disobedience. She gave to him as well, and he ate too.

When I was at boarding school, the students would smoke cigarettes in the toilets. I did not smoke. If only you could have seen the offering of cigarettes they always made to me. Those various American cigarettes, charcoal-filtered cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, cigarettes with I-don’t-know-what. In those days I would say, “Even the school principal himself has not seen this many kinds of cigarettes.” But the moment I started smoking and got used to it, that is when no one would give me even the cheapest, most basic, filterless cigarette. Why did they suddenly become stingy? Or rather, why had they been so generous before? Because every time they smoked, looking at someone in front of them who was not like them disturbed their consciences. Because they themselves had been defeated by something that is evil. But that person who did not smoke, who did not do what they did—as long as he remained resolute—they would feel a disturbance in their consciences. That is why with constant insistence they were as if saying, “You do what we do too, be one of us.” The moment you became like one of them, they say “Ah!” and are relieved inside. They are satisfied, saying, “So it turns out we are not the only ones defeated like this.” Their spirits rise. Now that you have become like one of them, in place of a cigarette you can lick your palm. Later on I did the same things too. To my friend who stood in front of me saying, “I don’t smoke,” I would insist without stopping that he smoke. The moment he too was defeated and became like me, I said, “Ah! So it turns out I’m not the only one who does this crooked thing,” and my conscience was relieved. “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil good habits”—it was not in vain that God said this through His prophet servants. (1 Corinthians 15:33) Eve too most certainly gave that fruit to her husband with a feeling similar to this. She did not want to remain alone in the thing she had done and been defeated by. I have used only the example of a cigarette. If you wish, you may also use examples like hashish, heroin, prostitution, theft, brawling, murder, alcohol, belief, and so on. On every subject that disturbed their consciences, people have encouraged one another to do the same things. If someone was himself defeated at the start by something he did not want, generally he wants others to be defeated too. People have carried out such encouragements upon one another for thousands of years. This is an evil, a weakness, that is in our flesh. And people have hated those who remained resolute and were not defeated. This is also the reason they killed the prophets. Already, while a person had nearly worn himself out searing that troubled conscience of his until it became unfeeling, someone comes along and tries to make those consciences of theirs work again. There are now two choices: either to destroy those filthy deeds, or to destroy the one who condemns those deeds. And humanity, most of the time, has destroyed the people who condemn those deeds rather than the filthy deeds themselves.