One of the most widely propagated falsehoods of the modern era is the conception of man as having a static or ‘complete’ spiritual state. This idea comes in many forms, atheism being the prime example where a denial of the soul has the necessary consequence of stunting spiritual growth. One common presentation of this idea is done through the platitude “you are fine just the way you are.” Unlike atheism, which is clearly false, this phrase and its numerous derivatives can worm their way into the hearts of otherwise well-meaning Christians. I wish to briefly provide an alternative vision.
The first thing that needs to be established is that we are not fine the way we are. While on this earthly plane we will always be lacking perfection. We should never be content with our current state, we should ceaselessly strive towards conforming ourselves to God’s will. Instead of saying to ourselves that we are “fine just the way we are” we should instead echo the words of St. John the Baptist speaking about Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). The way we are now should not stay the same, instead Christ’s presence should permeate and truly transform our souls and life.
The prophet Isaiah speaks of our current state in which “we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). We are not fine how we are. We are not in a state of spiritual completion, to say so would be to delude oneself and prevent spiritual growth. There are numerous passages found in both the Old and New Testaments which speak of the reality that on our own we are nothing. How are we to remedy this situation? How are we to change ourselves? Isaiah goes on to give us a hint:
Yet, O LORD, you are our father;
Isaiah 64:8
we are the clay and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands.
This vision of God, the potter, and man, the clay, contains within it the key to a proper understanding of ourselves. Clay is meant to change, clay is not fine the way it is. The Father must be allowed to form us, change us into what we ought to be. Again it bears repeating: we are not fine the way we are, we ought to be changed. Nobody can read the Scriptures and justify being content with our current, fallen state.
My parish priest, recounting the wisdom bestowed upon him by his seminary rector, recently identified the abuse of the saying “we’re only human” as a justification for past sinful actions. Recognizing that we are fallen, failing to live up to God’s standards for our lives, cannot be used to justify sin. Instead it should show us the grave necessity of growing in virtue. A Christian understands that we are not “only human,” but rather we are called to escape the corruption of the world by becoming partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). This has been firmly established.
If God is a potter, and we the clay, then what is he forming us into? In the prologue to his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans1, St. Thomas Aquinas provides us with one answer:
Now vessels are classified according to what is poured into them: for some are wine vessels, some oil vessels, and so on. In the same way, God fills men with diverse graces, as though with diverse liquids: to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.
1 Cor 12:8
Thus, God can be said to be forming us into vessels of his overflowing grace. Referring to St. Paul, Thomas goes on to say “But the vessel about which we are now speaking [St. Paul] was filled with a precious liquid, the name of Christ, of which it is said: your name is oil poured out (Song 1:3).” St. Paul is a great model of the Christian life. He went from engaging in evil actions, persecuting anyone belonging to the Way (Acts 9:2), to being one of the greatest saints. St. Paul did not stay the way he was, he was not content with his state when presented with the glory of our savior Jesus Christ. He allowed himself to change drastically.
In summary, we are called to become like Christ. The Christian path is not that of contentment, self congratulation, and maintaining the status quo. Our souls are called to become vessels which will overflow with the unending stream of living waters flowing from Christ. We can do this not by our own merit but through God’s grace. Through keeping the commandments, confessing our sins when God forbid we transgress God’s law, and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, we are able to become more like God as we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). This all starts with the uncomfortable fact that we are not “fine” the way we are, and ends with the comforting reality that God has promised us his grace, and as evidence of His fidelity gave us His Son who unceasingly offers us the living waters of his blood.
- St. Thomas Prologue to his commentary on Romans treats four different ways that the Scriptures refer to men as vessels, it is fascinating and offers great insight. “The Order and Division of Divine Truth: St. Thomas Aquinas as Scholastic Master of the Sacred Page” by John F. Boyle offers a good introduction to Thomas’ commentaries. You can find digital editions of Thomas’ scriptural commentaries for free at https://aquinas.cc/ or purchase a print edition from the St. Paul Center Aquinas Institute. ↩︎