A BETTER MAN
Esquire had an article about this subject and I didn’t like it much. However, I loved the question: “ARE THERE REAL, ACTIONABLE METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING ONE’S PATH…?” Following are a couple quotes:
“Guys are struggling.”
“Into this void pours everything from the contradictory self-care decrees of social media (learn to say no, learn to say yes, eat nothing but vegetables, eat nothing but meat, put family first, cut yourself off from family, here are thirty-four books you need to read this month) to the sociopathic sermons of proto-fascist kickboxers and bodybuilders. It’s a mess out there.”
Let’s start with the basic truth as I see it… There is no such thing as a “better man.” The basic faults of humankind are woven into us at every level of our beings. The absolute “BEST” man is still a flawed, sometimes horrible, being. There are things we can DO to improve the crud, but all it does in make the stink slightly less stinky. My conclusion is that as long as humans exist there will be problems. I recommend doing away with humans altogether. Our nature is bad.
Others agree for different reasons … for one, I believe Bill Gates has a plan to reduce human population by more than 50%. That is unworkable, in reality. Sadly, you could reduce the human population to a single young couple and it wouldn’t be long before all the problems start all over again. (Cain, when there were fewer than 50 people, complained, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” immediately after he murdered Abel.) So, reducing people doesn’t solve the basic problem. We are back to eliminating humans altogether.
God agrees, too. Understand that He has experience with starting over with just a few humans (Noah) and, later, choosing just ONE special family (Abraham). Neither system “worked.” He knows humans can’t be “fixed.” Instead He wants to transform people into different creatures capable of going where man has never gone before, and never will without God. His plan is to give us a new NATURE. Unfortunately, for us, while we live in this diseased world we cannot live the new nature fully. Don’t blame godly people for not living up to God’s standards, He only begins the process here. I’ve seen people change for the better once they start on the spiritual path. A friend of mine did not grow up religious. His wife wanted a divorce. He was broken. In the midst of that he came to realize that God was God and he (my friend) was not. He trusted God to begin to change him (not his wife) and God did. The divorce didn’t happen. Gotta’ say, he’s still not perfect. He tells very poor jokes.
Through thousands of years of the Old Testament we see that no matter what advantages a man has he will still do the exact wrong thing. Even King David (“a man after God’s own heart”) committed adultery and murder. His son, Solomon, (the wisest human who ever existed) walked away from the truth and, in the end, became a hedonistic monster. These were the best men ever. They still failed miserably. If the BEST can’t live up to being the BEST, what chance do you and I have?
In a recent conversation a stranger mentioned she didn’t approve of the slaughter of innocents in the Old Testament. Entire peoples were to be destroyed, including men, women, children, and livestock. Even their furnishings were to be burned in a bonfire. I didn’t have time to question her further, we were in a waiting room and she was called. Had I time I would have asked, “What about the furnishings? What did they do that so displeased God?” That would have been an introduction into the story of man, beginning in Genesis 3. Later in Genesis we see men, women, children, livestock, and everything mankind had accumulated destroyed in a flood. All, except Noah and those people and animals with him on the Ark, died. What did all the sheep do to deserve that?
OK, so we aren’t talking about sheep, right? We are talking about children, maybe! The truth is found in Genesis 3 again. There are young people, but none of us since Adam is born innocent. No one is born “good.” We are born evil. Proof? Even toddlers show signs of willfulness and selfish desire. Who taught them? No one (hopefully). That’s how they arrived from the factory. In fact, spiritually and ethically, none is innocent. So, let’s not imagine there is any purity there. Infants are merely INEXPERIENCED. Soon they learn to lie, cheat, sneak, and hurt others. Eventually they become aware of their evil natures and many attempt to stifle the worst parts. Thus, we often see articles (like the one mentioned above) telling men and women how to be “better” people. However, those are misguided attempts. We can make changes that make us stink less, but we still stink at being good.
So, is it a waste of time to become better humans? (I wouldn’t say that.) But we can’t win by our own efforts. How can we, then, WIN?
Imagine having an A.I. that constantly watches out for your best, makes suggestions for improvements, gives needed information just when you need it, and keeps you doing better than you would otherwise do. You are feeling tired and want to lay your head on your desk like you did in first grade, but that program buzzes you and gets you moving to the water fountain just as the boss comes around the corner. The boss asks how your project is moving along and the A.I. provides the input you need to explain exactly where your team is at the moment. Without that helper you would have stumbled a bit. The boss is impressed with your clarity and focus. But it isn’t you, it is your helper. The program gave you just the right words to explain a difficult process.
That’s science fiction (at this point).
Yet, I have had just that type of experience over and over. I’m not quick on my feet. I’m much better at writing. Yet, recently I approached a young mother after church and told her I liked the noise of her children. I said, “They are welcome here.” That wasn’t “me” because I’m a curmudgeon. I don’t think that fast or that clearly on a moment’s notice. I’m not a “better man” for having said that. I was merely listening to my Guide. My Guide is not a computer program. My Guide is God. God is far superior to any programmed assistant because He knows the future NOW and He knows exactly who I am.
In the time of Moses God deigned to live among men. God gave instructions for a tent for worship. Thus, they made a place for God’s presence with them and God’s obvious presence was above it: A cloud by day and a fire by night. Moses was the only one allowed to talk directly with Him. Then came Jesus in New Testament days. He spoke of the Spirit of God who would live not WITH, but IN His followers. When Jesus left He sent the Holy Spirit. Instead of being present with His people in a tent, He lives inside those who have faith. Sounds a bit spooky to some, crazy to others, but comforting to those He has come to live in.
Do you want the advice Esquire had instead of God himself within? OK, but that won’t make you much better as a man. Here are their recommendations: “Learn How to Listen,” “Watch Birds,” “Dump the Clutter,” “Go For a Walk,” “Plant a Garden,” etc. Ugh! Same old, same old, same old advice you get from a hundred sources.
God has a much better plan: Ask God to transform your life. People can’t change people. God can. There is a “REAL ACTIONABLE METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING ONE’S PATH.”
Copyright 2025 Donald Whelpley
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