The Christian Church is one of the few organizations in the
world that requires a public acknowledgement of sin as a condition of
membership. In one sense, the church has fewer hypocrites than any other
institution because by definition the church looks for sinners and is a
haven for them.
If the church claimed to be an organization of perfect
people, then her claim would be hypocrisy. But no such claim is made by
the church. There is no slander in the charge that the church is full of
sinners. Such a statement actually gives a compliment to the
church for fulfilling her divinely appointed task.
The benefits of Christianity are often said to be in simply
"obeying the rules," thereby making us think we are morally correct
people ---- ones who obey the Ten Commandments and Scripture and are very kind
to other people. Then God will love us. Actually, many religions operate
on this simple principle: If I live as I ought, only then will I be
accepted and loved by God. Therefore, the initiative is with us!
"Sin" is an attitude in which we focus on
ourselves as supreme, and thus replace God. The real God and his
law become secondary in our lives. Probably we are not consistently
sinful all the time, but we know that from time to time we all place our pride
and well-being first, even if others may sacrifice because of us. Are any
of us not sinners some of the time?
That view suggests we can earn God's favor and acceptance by
our choice of behavior, difficult as that may seem to be at times.
But, Christianity actually has a completely different
operating principle. We are already accepted and loved by
God. This is a gift to us before we even had a chance to think about
it. We call it "God's grace." This gift was demonstrated
by what Jesus did for us on the Cross. When Jesus was crucified, we
believe God was giving His own son (Jesus) to redeem the sinfulness of mankind,
Christians are people who understand they will often fail to
live as they should. Therefore, that they need forgiveness in the form of
God's freely-given grace. The prerequisite to becoming a Christian is
admitting that we have this problem, and that we need God's help. So,
continual repentance in the sense of humility before God, and thankfulness
expressed for the many blessings He continues to give to us, is the true mark
of a Christian.
The difference between a Pharisee of the New Testament and a
follower of Jesus Christ, is not that the Pharisee and the Christian are not
both trying to obey God, they actually are. However, the Pharisee is
doing it only self-righteously, and so he feels superior to other people ----
there is no humility there.
Jesus criticized people who do "religious" things
just to feel superior to others. Jesus understood that the chief danger
from this kind of religious moralism in which a person or a community feels
they have earned God's favor, is that it could lead them to feeling that
they deserve special deference and respect from all other folks ---- it
produces an unfortunate and unwarranted ego trip.
Jesus himself sacrificed his life so that his followers
could be reconciled to God, making their pride and self-interest
secondary. Thus, Christians follow someone (Jesus) who sacrificed
everything (all of his pride and self-interest) to redeem and renew the
world. At the heart of the Christian faith is a man who died a
victim of injustice, but who called for the forgiveness of his enemies.
Jesus is the example we sinners are trying to follow in seeking God and
thanking him for the blessings of His love.
In giving us Jesus, God showed us a humble path out of our
sinfulness ---- a path that would bring joy to God.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this Fall at CPC.
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