Monday, January 11, 2016

Have It Your way!

For forty years Burger King (R) had the slogan "Have it your way!". Unlike McDonald's who catered to the masses, Burger King specifically catered to "you" the individual. McDonald's made the same standard hamburgers for everyone. Burger King made it "your way". In my case I had a "Larry Whopper" which was without ketchup and mayonnaise.  Because I got it "my way" I was Burger King!

Now look at the recent news:
"Burger King scraps its 40-year-old 'Have It Your Way' slogan in favor of (the grammatically challenged) 'Be Your Way'
After 40 years of 'Have It Your Way', BK is changing its slogan.
The grammatically incorrect new motto is intended to remind people that 'they can and should live how they want anytime'
'Be Your Way' is about making a connection with a person's greater lifestyle, said the company's senior VP of global brand management". (Daily Mail; Associated Press; My 20, 2014)
It was bad enough that people must have it their own way; a personal choice; but now it's "Be your way": that for those with a modern lifestyle "they can and should live how they want anytime"!

What is so bad about that? After all this is nothing new. My refrain is "Everybody does what they want to do!" I've said that for years. Now, Burger King, before mildly so, are now saying "Be  your way!" insinuating no one has a right to condemn how you live. Not only do you get a burger to suit your tastes, but if you're a child-molester, who are they to condemn you. Their new motto is the ultimate in being tolerant.

We have been taught in modern years that being tolerant of others is a good thing. People even point to Jesus as the epitome of toleration. The truth is that Jesus loved everyone enough to die for everybody without regard to how evil they were. That's the condition of his divine heart and should be ours! However, Jesus expected something of us! If we accept his gift of salvation we're told to change. We become "new persons". That means "our self must change"! On the other hand for those who refuse to change, Jesus sentences those unwilling to eternal damnation. Yes, Jesus judges us and his judgment is true justice.

Jesus is intolerant. In fact he is the epitome of intolerance. He doesn't even want to see sin, let alone condone it! It's not "be your way" that he wants; it's "be my way"!

What is the way of Jesus?
1 John 2:6 "He that saith he abideth in him (Jesus) ought himself also so to walk, even as he (Jesus) walked."
Jesus's slogan was vastly different than Burger King's. Whereas, BK says "Be your way", Jesus says that you are to walk as he did; in righteousness. Jesus never sinned. Sin is a choice. It's the responsibility of all those who claim Jesus as their leader to quit sinning! The worst sin is "being your way".

It all started in the Garden of Eden, even before mankind ate meat, let alone hamburgers! Two people  were the first to "have it your way" and as such they were practicing "be your way". Rather than obedience, they were rebelling. God isn't about tolerance "be your way", but about obedience "walk his way". Adam and Eve chose the motto "be your way" and they spiritually died that day.

Whereas before, they were immortal, now they were mortal. Although they once would never even die, now not only would their bodies die, but their souls would suffer the second death! Why? Because "be your way", was what Satan told them to do by deceit. Burger King has become accepting of the same tolerance as Satan encouraged. They in effect sell your soul for the love of money!

How is it when we "be our way"? It's "doing it our way". It's "being our way". When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit there was a problem:
Galatians 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."
They disregarded God's first command, and ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree. They were having it their way, or as I call it "People do what they want to do!". They were "being what they wanted to be": sinners!  Always thereafter, people were "what they wanted to be" in opposition to beirng what God wanted them to be!
Deuteronomy 12:8 "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."
In effect people who "be what they want to be "are doing "what's right in their own eyes". They are being just as God forewarned:
Genesis 3:5a  "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods..."
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit they not only "had it their way", but they in effect obeyed the slogan  "be your way" ! That way is "sinner" and this was "original sin" which we have all inherited. In effect all men are "other gods besides him" and God is jealous of us because we place our own Self over him. We are "being our way".

Lady Gaga was partially right with her song Born This Way because since Adam, we all are born with a propensity to sin. It's just that our "god of Self" for each individual has different sins of choice. Some are harder to leave behind than others. Lot's wife looked back on the sin of homosexuality. She longed to stay there and she died for it. It's a hard thing "being your way". It's hard to overcome on your own!

In Galatians 5:16 above Paul wrote of "the lusts of the flesh".  This is the New Testament way of saying "ye shall be as gods", because the lusts of the flesh is how you appease your god of Self!

We're all born with a body, spirit and mind in the image of God. We're clean when we are born, but we have the propensity to sin. When children are born there is no sin, but immediately a baby becomes selfish. They "do what they want to do". They demand attention. They demand nourishment. Everything is Self-centered. All things are "MINE!" they scream as soon as they can! Although it's human nature to have a desire to fulfill needs, early on, children learn to be selfish; and parents are amused as they condition them for a lifetime!

Being  the "god of Self" is all about "I", "Me" and "Mine". It's "doing what we want to do" and "being what we want to be"! It's doing "what's right in our own eyes" without regard to what God's will is! In effect it's "worshiping other gods before God".

Let's look at a few "have it your way" when we "be our way":

  • Selfish
  • Disobedient
  • Lustful
  • Irreverant
  • Unloving
  • Prideful
  • Judgmental
  • Condescending
  • Uncaring
  • etc.
These are ways we "be your way". Even Jesus recognizes that we are what we are:
Matthew 22:39b "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
We're told to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. Immediately we're told to love others as we do ourselves. How is that? With all our hearts. minds and souls. Why? Because our nature is to be "as gods" and since we are to love God profoundly, Jesus knows how much we adore our own Self's!

A given is that EVERYONE loves their god of Self:
 Ephesians 5:29a "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it..."
In Herrin's Lexicon this says "We all love our god of Self"! Because we are all our own god! We "do what we want to do" and we "be our way" without regard to walking in the way of Jesus! Because we love our own god so much is why it's so important to love others! It takes the focus off our god and puts the focus on God by doing what he tells us to do: love others. This is the best and maybe only way to demonstrate our love for God, but yet others cater to our collective gods. They say "be your way". They kneel to our own altar while God sheds tears because the serpent disguised as Burger King management kneels to our god for the love of money (the root of all evil)!

Let's take a look at us as we "be your way" as BK expresses it! As I said before, we are born clean. Then we demand and begin to focus on "me" and "mine". Others cater to us, and that's expected because a baby is helpless. As time goes by the baby matures, but emotionally we still cater to them. They remain emotional babies all their lives and their spirit is one of Self-centeredness.

Then we start to adore them. We kneel to their little god. We buy gifts for their entertainment. We adorn their ears with diamonds. We feed them Epicurean delights and fatten them up. We dress them in fine clothes, put bows in their hair and more jewelry. Our children become living "SusanMas" Trees or whatever. Then as they get older we allow them to adore their own bodies. They put on sexy clothes to be provocative. They seek attention. They become self-centered and are always "right in their own eyes". As they mature (sic) they seek independence from rules because rules are disrespectful to their god. However, they still demand attention and people give it to them. We kneel at the beautiful teen's idol; her "Self!

Then the teen becomes a woman. She is a goddess. She uses sex as a lure to get others to adore her. She further decorates her own tree. She gets tattoos and body piercings, both pagan doings. Then she looks for a husband who she demands to worship her! Even married, she tempts other men. Just as Eve tempted Adam, modern Eves still tempt men. She needs the attention!

Have I been too hard on women? Am I anti-feminist? What I said about women applies to men as well! We all sin! We all are own gods! We all are guilty of "be your way"! And advertisers know that we are all our own gods and "want it our way"!

Idol worship is more than beauty and independence. Many Christians overlook the sin of gluttony. Of course some of it's a health issues or genetic, but most eating by most people is pleasuring the taste buds!  Our god loves the taste of food and our god is given whatever it takes to appease it. Being obese shows a lack of will power. Those who eat to the extreme our kneeling to their god. Their idol demands Burger King or DQ or whatever, and the Self sacrifices to it's own god! BK and DQ knows who our gods are and they appease them for the love of money!

Oh, how to change that! We submit our Self a living sacrifice and love God and others. When we love others, there is happiness and our own Self is toppled! Our idol gets some mud on it, but we'll still try to clean it up and erect it. That's what Self's do! We prop up our idols. Even after we're new creatures (our Self's sacrifice to Jesus) Satan still tries to resurrect our idols! It's only Jesus who can bury that idol! Walk with him and quit "being your way"!



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