When Jesus said that we must “lose ourselves to find ourselves” (Mark 8:35) he was referring to the necessary death of our “False Self.” This has caused much havoc in Christian history because it was interpreted as an appeal to punish the body. However, Jesus’ intent was personal liberation, not self-punishment. Centuries of Christians falsely assumed that if they could “die” to their body, their spirit would for some reason miraculously arise.
This problem may be attributed to Paul’s choice of the word sarx, translated “flesh,” as the very enemy of pneuma, Spirit (Galatians 5:16-24). We now translate sarx as “ego” or “small self,” which is much closer to Paul’s actual meaning.
We need to remember that Christianity is the religion that believes “the Word became flesh” (John 1:13), and Jesus even returned to the “flesh” after the Resurrection (Luke 24:40)—so flesh cannot be bad. It is our attachment to the False Self that must die to allow the True Self—our basic and unchangeable identity in God—to live fully and freely.
Mark 8:35 “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”
