Rated E for Everyone

Manifest Destiny, Worldviews, and Eggs

Jul 25, 2024

When it came to this week's post and seeing that I was going to arrive at the letter E, the question of what I would write about suddenly reared its ugly head. Anything and everything under the sun is available, but availability is not the question, eligibility is. What should I write about? Anybody can write whatever they want, and thankfully Substack seems to be the melting pot for it, all topics are available. But the question of what needs to be written is of concern here.

When the United States was settled in the 19th century, there was a doctrine called Manifest Destiny. This idea postulated that expansion throughout the continent "was justified and inevitable". I think we get caught up in our own forms of manifest destiny. The actions that we do are justified because we did them. They are inevitable because they already happened. As settlers plowed through the rustic wildlands of 19th century America they carried the belief that since they were here it must mean they were meant to be there. If not me, then somebody else, so it might as well be me. This mentality has reached its full maturity today.

I believe Paul addressed manifest destiny in 1 Corinthians 10.23 "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." He later says in the same chapter "...whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." In the context of this chapter, Paul is writing about food and drink, but he encapsulates all human enterprise when he writes "whatever you do." Should I be writing whatever I want? Does writing a Substack post, publishing it, and watching it blow up mean I should have written it?

We are not our own, we were bought with blood. The lives we live, we live to Christ in God. There is a subjection and a submission here. We place our lives at the loving feet of Jesus and rest in his perfect will and wisdom. America is really good at independence and bootstrapping ourselves onto the plane of success, but as a Christian, my identity is not primarily American. I am a Christian first and an American second. My destiny is not held in my own hand, just waiting for me to take the big risks and adventure to reach my greatest potential and achieve all I can and want to be.

No, my life belongs to a King, a king who is sovereign and loving, who sees far beyond my aching physical frame. My life is not mine to manifest its destiny. I do not have to do it alone, my shoulders cannot bear the weight. Thankfully, God is for me and he provides a Way. A Way that is God who became man and he manifested himself to us to provide a way for salvation from our sins. He paid the ultimate price, sacrificed himself on the cross, and took the wrath of God for us.

This destined manifestation of salvation on the cross is what directs me. This God-man, Jesus Christ, is who determines what I should write and how I should write it. The Truth is the paradigm in which I strive to write the world. The Light of Christ beams forth and illuminates the way before me. We are not meant to do it alone.