How do you know you’re not an ashtray?

A friend asked me this question in the course of discussing our various perspectives on life. Actually this is a very good question. In the final analysis we all take our basic presuppositions for granted. We assume our identity: that I am pretty much the same self as last week, that my memory is fairly reliable, my thinking and logic are sound, my senses work fairly well. Of course these assumptions are not possible to prove, because the process of proof would depend on these very same presuppositions. So let’s assume I am not an ashtray and I am a human being. We have to start somewhere.

What actually constitutes “me”? What is the definition of me? Some might say that I am that guy who does a certain activity; say my job, my position, where I live or my hobby. Some might define me by a relationship. Maybe I am somebody’s husband, father or uncle. Possibly I might be defined as a number. Number 47 in line at the DMV or number 3 at the finish line, or maybe one of 1.3 million voter who voted for……whatever. That’s all well and good as long as I am being described by someone else, but how do “I” define me?

Nobody can’t really see “me”. The real me lives within a flesh and bone structure which houses something called “me”. In modern society so many people are defined by the outside person and what they look like. For some, unless you look like a supermodel or an action movie hero you really have very little value. When was the last time you saw a really ugly or even a plain looking person as a TV anchor person. We want to see eye candy. Still yet I think if we were able to go back into history we would find many great men and women who were less than attractive but who still contributed greatly to our civilization. Could Lincoln get elected in this day and age? Was Madam Curie a knockout. Were Marx and Kierkegaard matinée idols? Tradition tells us that Paul the apostle was a short ugly man who had an eye infection that was disgusting to look at. Even Jesus was not the good looking long haired hippy effeminate guy we see portrayed by Hollywood. He was just an average looking “Joe”.

Isaiah 53:2 (NIV) He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. We tend to define people by their outward appearance, but the real person is inside.

So, can you really see me? No, the real “me” is inside and it is more than a spleen or pancreas. The real person is comprised of three distinct parts. The soul, (the will and decision making part, the component that allows us to be self-aware, and to actually believe truth concepts). The spirit (that substance that is able to transcend the material world and interact with God.) The body which encases me in a temporary, gradually wasting away biologic unit.

Can a person operate with dysfunctional parts? Yes of course. People have missing organs and limbs, psychological problems in thinking, and a multitude of diseases and brokenness.
Can a person operate with a dysfunctional spirit? I think yes. It is the story of mankind. In fact we are all born with dysfunctional spirits.


The first man was created in the image of God. Now I’m not smart enough to clearly understand what this means, but it seems that God is a triune being as are we. God the Father seems to be the seat of the creative process. God the Son appears to be the manifestation which interacts in human form with the material universe. The Holy Spirit is the person who, as Jesus describes Him, is like the wind and has ability to move in and around within the material universe as he sees fit. I’m sure I am not even close to explaining the triune nature of God and I am only giving a very shallow and childish picture of the Godhead. My understanding of God is comparable to a 5 year olds understanding of Quantum Physics.

Anyway to some extent we are made in the pattern of the Creator; we exist as a triune entity, body, soul and spirit. It’s interesting that God told the first man that if he ate one particular fruit he would die. He ate the fruit but didn’t die. Or did he? Actually Adam’s spiritual component did die. From a spiritual perspective he was left a shell of himself. His soul died in the sense that it was left warped and twisted. His soul looked like it had been run over by an 18 wheeler. He no longer could make rational godly decisions. He was ill equipped to decide right from wrong and so was subject to his own emotions and whims. God left him with a vague facsimile of a spiritual organ, a conscience. Still yet the bible describes the natural man as having a seared conscience, 1 Timothy 4:2 (HCSB) through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. He was hardened and unable to have the communication with his creator that he had been designed to enjoy. His body which was also designed to live into eternity also began to age and eventually wasted away to nothing.

The effects of man’s rebellion were passed on from generation to generation. Seth the third son of Adam to be mentioned in scripture, is no longer described as being made in the image of God, but now is said to be after the image of Adam. So what does that make us? A human with a quickly failing body, a mind which on its own naturally seeks out evil, and a spirit which is stunted and dormant. Not a pretty picture. The thing is, we all know it. We all know there is a problem. We know we are not quite right. We live our lives with one eye on the clock. 



There is this death thing lurking out there. That 100% mortality stat is always in the back of our minds. We spend billions on cosmetics and health product, treadmills, gym memberships, extensive medical care; trying to stay young and still we die. We fool ourselves into thinking we are evolving toward something. Somehow we have deluded ourselves into thinking we somehow can gain eternity through one of those supermarket newsstand, 10 ways to stay young magazines covers. We tell each other that mankind is evolving from animals to peaceful super men. Give me a break. In the last century over 200 million people were killed in wars. So much for us evolving toward utopia. I guess my point is that we are all facing eternal death unless something is done. We will die and go someplace where God is not found. It cannot be avoided because that channel with which our spirit connects to the Spirit of God is broken.

Ok here comes the point. I think there was a Galilean Rabbi who addressed this issue. The bible uses the terms regeneration or made alive, quickened, or born from above or born again. Jesus spoke in John 3 with old Nick of a 2nd birth. Naturally this was unheard of at the time and totally confounded this religious leader. Something has to be done before the old body dies. The spirit/soul thing is going to go someplace. It is not material and it takes our identity with it when the body goes back into dust. If a man has been spiritually regenerated then he will go to wherever the Spirit of God resides and eventually become reunited with a new kind of indestructible body. 

If a man has never been regenerated he will stay separated from God as he originally was. His dead dysfunctional soul/spirit will go to a place something like an ungodly wrecking yard. He will continue to remain unable to understand anything but evil, but still yet be haunted by the faint memory of what could have been and what he was created to be. The scripture say that everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be saved from this fate. What does that mean?

 The expression, name of the LORD is a loaded statement. Since all life is in the LORD, the creator, and He is the definition and source of all life, it is only logical, that His name represents the remedy for our ultimate problem. We must find a way to again become associated with Him or we will be lost. That way is through the Son. Remember, 
I Am the Way, Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.

As one ages we become more aware of our own mortality. We see our friends and loved ones die and pass off the scene and we miss them and wonder where and how they are. We know they do not cease to exist. We know it inside. There is that still small voice which knocks on what is left of the door to the smoldering embers of our spirit. Wake up, wake up, don’t wait too long. Call out to me and I will give you life again. I will reignite and reenergize that dormant spirit and bring you back to what I created you for. Your loved ones who reached out to me are alive and waiting. Don’t miss out on the greatest thrill ride of all times. To travel across the universe in a nano second with just a thought. To go into dimensions and adventures never before imagined. Do you want to miss out on that? The apostle Paul was taken there. He kept repeating that he didn’t know if he was in his body or not in his body. He wasn’t sure what was going on. He just said it was not lawful for him to speak about it. I think this was because there is no human language by which to describe the wonders of what he saw. Our regenerated loved ones are there calling to us. The entry point is very small and only for a short 3 score and ten. Your boarding pass is ready for the greatest family reunion of all eternity and you want to claim this garbage can of an existence here on this fallen earth is all there is. Hello wake up before it is too late. You are only one heartbeat away from total emptiness and desolation, or a never ending incredibly fulfilling eternal timeless adventure with those you love.