The right to be myself

The current psychological orthodoxy is that we are most fulfilled when we are being most wholly 'true to ourselves’. The belief is that 'whatever I am is good and should be fully expressed’, and out of this comes one strand of the rights agenda.

Yet there seems to me to be an inherent flaw in this argument that I don’t hear expressed.

So how should we express and be ourselves? Should we express those inclinations that are clearly bad? For example, as we naturally covet the things that other people have, should we go ahead and just take them; if I am naturally a thief, then should I go ahead and be a thief?

Most people would recognise this a bad idea, for thieving is not just illegal but is immoral, unethical.

What about if I am naturally drawn to watch pornography? Should I go ahead and express this side of myself? This is a legal activity (where it involves adults), so the judgement is not about legality, but can be about morality or ethics, for those involved in the production of pornography may be coerced or indeed trafficked! It is also a question of whether this behaviour enhances or damages my own life and those around me.

Yet we use the argument about having a 'right to be myself' as if it is a self-evident truth and without any consideration of whether a behaviour is good or bad, ethical, moral, life-enhancing or harming.

So, how come it is acceptable, indeed good, to resist the temptation to be a thief or to act in other ways that are damaging, and yet we still claim our ‘right to be ourselves’?

For Christians, the matter is explained by the fact that we were made in God's image, yet are fallen beings living in a fallen world:

• Christians know from Genesis that God made men and women in his image; alone of all creation, humankind is said to be made in God’s image (Gen 1v27). After all, if God made us good (Gen 1v31), it is incumbent upon us to be who God made us to be!
• Yet we are all ‘fallen’ (see Gen 3), and in fact, not very much of what I am is actually good even by human standards, let alone by God's standard!

So we rely on the God the creator to distinguish what is good and to be expressed, and what is fallen and is to be rejected.

In fact, if I recognise that I am a fallen, sinful being, rather than harming my well-being or stunting my expression of myself, I am free to enjoy a fulfilling relationship with God, with others and to be fully the person God created me to be.

There is no ‘right to be myself’. In fact, be yourself at your peril!