You *don’t* Do You
“You do you.”
It’s one of the most prevalent themes of popular culture, a rallying cry for those seeking harmony, unity, and peace among our fractured society. And, on the surface level, all seems well and good. “You do you” basically means you should do your own thing, whatever makes you happy. Likewise, everyone else should be free to do their thing–whatever makes them happy. It’s a pact to allow all to pursue their own fulfillment and joy without imposing judgment or restriction.
A shiny, happy “live and let live” world. And it works…for awhile.
But, what if the thing that makes you happy makes someone else unhappy? Or, what if the thing that makes someone else happy hurts you, physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually?
Therein lies the conundrum of this seemingly innocuous philosophy: each person pursuing their own individual brand of happiness can never lead to group or societal peace or contentment. Because the pursuit of isolated, self-serving happiness above everything else is, at it’s heart, not loving, but selfish.
Many mothers can probably relate to this. A vision of my own happiness would involve sleeping late, reading all day, and ordering take-out six out of the seven days of the week. But living like this would hurt my family (and my wallet!) My children would be neglected. My husband would be over-burdened. Our relationships (and our waistlines) would suffer.
But it would just be “me doing me” right? Pursing the things that give me the most satisfaction and avoiding those irksome things that cause me displeasure.
This is an innocuous example, for sure, but it proves the fallacy of a “you do you” mindset. Focus on self above everything never bodes well.
God, of course, is well aware of this. That is why, time and time again, His Word commands us otherwise. In fact, His instructions can be summed up as the opposite of “you do you;” instead, we should “do what is right for others.”
1 Corinthians 10: 24: “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
Philippians 2: 3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Luke 6:31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
But this isn’t just a nice way of living God encourages us to follow. He Himself modeled this very behavior in the form of Jesus, “who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2: 6-8, emphasis mine)
If Jesus had adopted the model of “you do you” and, during his time of earth, pursued his own happiness rather than the salvation of all people, He would never have survived the temptation in the wilderness. He never would have healed those around Him nor forgiven those who betrayed Him. And He most certainly would have never endured the humiliation or agony of death on a cross.
And yet He did.
Jesus willfully took on the form of His created, not for His benefit, but for ours.
He served, healed, suffered, and saved–again, not for His benefit, but for ours.
He came down from heaven, “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10: 45)
How then can we, as those He has redeemed, live our lives in any other fashion?
If our Creator lived His earthly life for the good of other people, shouldn’t we do the same? Shouldn’t our focus be outward rather than inward, toward heaven rather than earth? While their is joy in celebrating the unique and special way God made each one of us, the philosophy of “you do you” lacks the basic principal to which God has called each and every one of us:
LOVE.
While on the surface it may seem loving to let others be, we must remember where we would be if God had chosen that same mentality. We were put here, not to selfishly seek our own happiness, but to show others the wonders of God’s love. Serving Him–and those around us–in humility, leading others toward Him by modeling Jesus and putting the good of our brothers and sisters above our own.
Because, as you grow in your relationship with Christ, you’ll come to realize that life isn’t about you at all. With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can rise above the “you do you” reasoning and, instead, do things God’s way.
And what is God’s way?
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
