When a Fish is a Fish
A mentor of mine would often ask, “How does a goldfish glorify God?”
By simply being a goldfish.
God created us with design and purpose and the two work together. In biology, if I recall correctly, it’s stated that “form equals function.” What we know at the most microscopic levels is that it is the form of a molecular structure that determines it’s function. It does not do any good for mitochondria to function as anything other than mitochondria. As a matter of fact, if said mitochondria were to quit performing it’s designed function and attempt to do another job, it would cause problems.
See how molecular science glorifies God! We get to see glimpses of our infinitely intelligent creator when we observe His creation functioning as it was designed. (At best we can merely observe such intelligence, and then we pat ourselves on the back with such pride just for noticing. But let’s save that for another day!)
The goldfish glorifies God by being a goldfish. God created a goldfish to be a goldfish and we can observe the beauty and wonder of that cute little thing swimming contentedly in it’s bowl, back and forth. If the fish for one moment decided it wanted to be a dog, it might jump out of the water but would struggle for breath and never get even the slightest “bark” in.
A fish that tries to be a dog does not glorify God. It defies God. And it dies.
And then there are some that might even have the audacity to ask, “How could God let such a thing happen?”
We live and breathe thanks to God’s design, but we were created for more than life in the sense that a goldfish has life. We were uniquely made in God’s image and with a purpose.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26–28)
All things are made for God’s own glory. But in our rebellion, we seek our own glory and buck against God’s design; we think we know better than God.
~A fish that begs to be a dog does not have God’s own glory in mind.~
We have to acknowledge our tendency to go against God, because when we ignore it, we convince ourselves that God wants us to be something that we were never designed to be. It is something we must guard our hearts against, but for many generations we have not.
The unguarded passivity of most American Christians through the last few generations has passed on a legacy of great confusion. God’s design for male and female has been covered over and buried deep in mantras of: “You can be whatever you want to be,” “Whatever makes you happy,” and the like.
Aren’t these really the same messages we want to hear from God? And so rather than consider if our fallen nature has altered our perspective of what is in fact good, we instead become the better parent by insisting our children decide what is best for themselves. We then throw whatever resources we have at the dream and call it sacrificial parenting.
Fallen man loves himself the most and “self-love” becomes justified when we transpose it onto our children. It is a noble thing to work more to have a nicer house… for your kids.
So Christian parents with unguarded hearts have stolen the truth of God’s design and exchanged it for the lie that in fact, your heart is not deceitful and should actually be followed.
The result is that now most churches are filled with confused congregations looking for ways to feel better about themselves. They are Christian fish, trying to be dogs, gasping for air, and praying the remedy makes them better dogs. Their life is faithless. Nancy Wilson once said something like, “Faith agrees with God.” Let that sink in.
Faith agrees with God.
A faithful congregation comes to the Word of God with open ears and open hearts, itching to learn how their creator says to live, wanting to identify every lie they believed that led them down a path away from God. A faithful people agrees with the Psalmist:
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:104)
When we align our hearts with God, we desire His glory, not ours. We then must ask, what can I do to glorify God?
Are you a wife? Are you a mother? Are you a goldfish?
A woman that glorifies God is one that seeks to know God’s design for a woman and faithfully walks in agreement with God, not mankind. A man glorifies God by being a biblical man, looking only to God, His Word and godly counsel to define that role. Part of biblical womanhood and manhood involves passing on these truths to the next generation. Passivity is not an option. Be diligent - diligent in learning, in doing and in teaching.