In my last blog, I discussed how we could use the idea of the uniqueness of man as an evangelical bridge to our postmodern youth. We discovered that Millenials are obsessed with human uniqueness and make extraordinary efforts to preserve the right to be different. I pointed out that while we both embrace individuality, we differ on its source. Christians believe humans are special because they represent God’s unique thoughts. Postmoderns, on the other hand, believe they are legends in their own minds.
While we both acknowledge that humans are unique, we also share the concern that humans are uniquely flawed. We love to have parades to celebrate our distinctiveness, but then turn around and organize a march to protest our societal imperfections. Interestingly, humans are the only creatures on the planet that we hold accountable for bad behavior. We give the rest of the biological world a free pass despite the fact that it frequently behaves in a politically incorrect manner. Lions have been known to violate an antelope’s safe space and tear it limb from limb and yet we call it the regal king of the jungle. My cat exhibits microaggressive behavior towards rodents and yet I continue to pamper her with kitty treats. Humans are the only creatures on the planet we consider to be both superheroes and supervillains, but instead of accepting our villainous mortal limitations we raise our Valhallian voices and throw our hammer of intolerance at those who don’t act as “divinely” as we do. We are good at recognizing the shortcomings of others but quite unwilling to confront our own sinful kryptonite.
G.K. Chesterton, in his power packed pithiness, brought clarity to this situation when he responded to a request by a London newspaper to write a commentary on the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” His simple reply:
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours,
Chesterton got right to the heart of the matter. The world has a problem and that problem is humans. It is not just the democrats or republicans, the liberal or the conservative, it is all of mankind. Richard Niebuhr, noted theologian, famously remarked, “the doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith”[ii]
The Bible has a lot to say about our human dilemma, in fact, I would say that it is the only book that explains why we are both good and evil, why we bear the image of God and yet act so devilishly. We can quibble about snakes, trees, and gardens, but the core message of Genesis is that good people have fallen on hard times and are unable to get up under their own power. We can therefore take the universal experience of tarnished humanity and give it a Biblical polish by drawing our young people to its pages and showing them that what they experience every day of their lives began with the divine pretensions of the first human couple. Adam and Eve, as the first leg in the human race, grabbed the “divine wanna-be” baton and passed it on to their children and we continue their fool’s errand by meticulously passing it on from generation to generation. We need to get them to see that this original sin wasn’t just a youthful indiscretion where two mischievous kids ran around the Garden of Eden with scissors, yelling with their outside voices, but rather was an act so powerful that it placed the entire world in bondage.
We need our young people to see that mankind’s problem is not the faulty construction of some of its more obnoxious members but rather an inherent flaw in all of us. If we think mankind is just ignorant then we can learn from Jesus the wise teacher. If we believe that we just need a role model then Jesus can be our mentor. If we think our problem is a lack of sensitivity to the needs of the culture then Jesus can be our community organizer. But if we recognize that the answer isn’t outward sensitivity training but rather inward reprogramming, not the latest tolerance software but rather a hardness of heart drive replacement, then Jesus will assume His proper place as savior because He is the only One who works for the Manufacturer.
But pastors can be so reluctant to use the word “sin” that in church we end up confessing nothing except our highly developed capacity for denial.[iii] (Kathleen Norris)
G. K. Chesterton, quoted in Phillip Yancey, Soul Survivor (New York: Galilee/Doubleday, 2001), 58.
[ii] (Man’s Nature and His Communities: Essays on the Dynamics and Enigmas of Man’s Personal and Social Existence [Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1965], 24).
[iii] Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), 165.
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