“But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.” Jude 10

I looked out the window to watch a huge black bear, sitting up, paws in the air, sniffing and watching as two little cubs ate out of the deer feeder. The cubs ate until stuffed and spent until 3:00 AM rolling around on the deck chasing each other. So cute! But I remembered my grandfather’s words. No way was I going out. I don’t believe that you can reason with a wild animal. Instinct would kick in and she would protect, actually protecting the cubs from nothing for I would mean no harm.

When someone is being carnal, they are being animal. They are living by instinct. You can’t reason with them, nor do you know what they will do next. My advice, just avoid them in words, actions, and interaction. It is amazing how quickly you can be pushed into a carnal state yourself. At that point, there are two unreasoning people in the room.

However, if there is pride in me, it will well up within, I will move into instinct self-protection and give a defense. Then, he reacts, I, him, I, him, and so on. The only thing that is accomplished is that where there was one carnal man, now stands two!

The next morning I think, “I didn’t even care what the man thought! Why in the world did I spend that much time arguing?” When we are making excuses, defending self, defending our creditability, clarifying our position, getting another on our side, or trying to gain approval, we are carnal and unreasoning beasts!

Think about it for just a minute. The contentious relative, the neighbors, the teacher, or leader that you made a defense to, what you really wanted was for them to understand your position, and you wanted them to know your real motive. Do you really want them to think so well of you that they stay around all the time judging you? I promise you: fix one issue with the carnal and another will arise.

When someone finishes chewing (harsh, critical, condemning, judgmental) me up I often say, “Given that, you would be well advised to stay as far away from me as you can! If you see me coming you should turn and run!” If I won that person as a friend, what would I have won? Don’t enter into their carnality; let it work for you to push them away.

Jesus didn’t try to reason with the carnal,

(John 13:27): And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus, therefore, said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

I am not begging people to let Christ live through them. It is a privilege!

Now when evening came, His (1) disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea (2) to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
John 6: 16-21

Tertullian said that “the soul is naturally Christian”. Was he right? I believe so, for it is only when you see a man accept Christ that his soul is fulfilled and happy. Therefore, to be an unbeliever is to live in a very unnatural state. It is to feel disjointed, empty, lacking something, longing for others to fill the vacuum, lost, and very unhappy. To avoid Christianity is to avoid happiness, it is to set oneself on a course of self
destruct.

To live without Christ, moment by moment, is to toil in the dark. Much of mankind is toiling in the dark, with their eyes on themselves and self-effort. And in this condition they are lost, frantic and within the grasp of death. It is not until our eyes are set on Jesus that we find ourselves immediately filled with all that we desire. We find ourselves there.

Why does man insist on looking away from Jesus? What is our fear? The fear is that He will ask the impossible–to lose ourselves, to lose those things that we have determined will make us happy! And yet we are sad in this state! We fear the loss of our precious little that has not brought happiness.