We cannot base the case for Christianity on the argument that it will make us better behaved humans because both Atheist and Christian alike are image-bearers capable of doing good things. Likewise, we cannot argue that Christianity will prevent us from doing bad things because the church has also been involved in morally questionable behavior. A tally sheet of good and bad things done by the religious and non-religious only proves that humans are fallen image-bearers. The truly revolutionary idea of Christianity is that despite our inability to perfectly do good or perfectly avoid evil we are still offered gracious forgiveness.

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. (Romans 7: 15-21)

Jesus came not to make us better citizens but to save us because we are not. The Catholic church scandal, the fall of many a protestant pastor, revelations of unchristian behavior in Christian politicians, and the same divorce rate as the secular world clearly show that taking the high moral ground can be perilous for fallen humans. Sadly, when we try to outdo the rest of the world with better behavior we more often reveal our hypocrisy rather than our honesty. People are not going to flock to the church to improve the way they conduct themselves because Humanists, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and New Agers all claim to improve behavior. Polishing our manners is nothing special but admitting that we are tarnished is. Every other worldview white washes the tomb, Christianity opens it up, tells us it stinks, and cleanses it with the blood of the lamb.

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18: 10-14)

Atheism accepts the fact that mankind is basically a stinky creature but explains it away as just an unfortunate consequence of the noble desire to survive. Religious movements, on the other hand, recognize that the odor is unacceptable and offer four possible remedies: deny it, cover it up, wash it off, or cleanse it from within. Buddhism tells us that the smell is an illusion and once we accept that fact it will go away. New Age religion considers it politically incorrect to tell people that they stink so instead they recommend the application of heavy doses of spiritual perfume in order to hide our corporate smell. Hinduism recommends that we should sequentially strip a little bit of dirt off every lifetime or so until we are united with the One Great Unscented. Islam generally recognizes that mankind smells pretty good most of the time but periodically wanders into the muck necessitating an occasional bath. Christianity on the other hand says that mankind stinks all the time and no amount of perfume or baths will change that fact because the smell originates on the inside and the only option is an internal cleansing.

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. (Mt 15: 17-20)

I have to agree with that great philosophical sage, the Joker, in the 1989 Batman movie, who said, “This town needs an enema,” because we need an internal cleansing and not the deodorant of denial. I’m sorry people, but you have reached fifty and it is time for your spiritual colonoscopy.

Deep down mankind knows that he is flawed, but inappropriately uses that knowledge to justify finger wagging and not mirror gazing. He recognizes the sinfulness of mankind in the noisy neighbor with the rooster but fails to see it in the mirror when he lies to his spouse. We are quite eager to sit in the judgment seat and conduct court, but somehow feel that we have diplomatic immunity when it comes to our own crimes. GK Chesterton, put it quite succinctly when he responded to a London Times request for essays on the subject of what was wrong with the world?

Dear Sirs:

I am.

Sincerely yours,

G.K Chesterton

Our keen sense of spiritual smell tells us that something is, “Rotten in Denmark,” and we periodically find ourselves downwind from it. We get so overwhelmed by its odor that we indignantly blame our upwind, pungent fellow man, failing, however, to acknowledge our own overpowering contribution. We need to begin by recognizing our own dirt and bathe ourselves before we can, in good conscience, point others to the shower.

If we want to save others we need to be willing to first admit that we “are that man.”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? (2 Samuel 12: 7-9)

We need to stop trying to earn our spot at the head of the line to get a get-out-of-hell free card because Jesus is already at the back of the line graciously handing out get-into-heaven free cards to those who know they can’t do it by themselves.

And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9: 11-13)

Our friends and neighbors aren’t that stupid. We can tell them how good Christianity can make them but eventually they will turn on the television or open the paper and see our hypocrisy. The Gospel is powerful because it saves sinners, so our Christianity should be known by the way we bend a knee not by the way we take a podium. We should be known not as those with clean hands but as those willing to get them dirty helping our fellow man out of the pit.

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1: 12-16)

Ultimately, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will change our behavior but that change will be fueled by the humble recognition that someone else saved us and not from the human hubris that we did it “our way.” We cannot produce good fruit through the creative use of humanistic agricultural techniques because the manure of pride makes for a poor fertilizer. We will, however, effortlessly produce good fruit if we are nourished by the True Vine.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15: 1-5)

While it may seem to be a real downer to think of ourselves as such flawed creatures, in the end, it is actually a source of immense joy because it shows us just how much God has done for us. People may want to pick a bone with the skeletons in our closet, but we need to show them that we can once again dance because Jesus has given them new flesh.

“The harlots who have no imagined righteousness to protect will be dancing into the Kingdom while you have your alleged virtue burned out of you! Hear me well: I have come to announce the dawn of a new age, and era of incredible generosity. Allow yourselves to be captivated by joy and wonder at the surpassing greatness of my father’s love for the least; set it’s life grounded against your own joyless, loveless, thankless, and self-righteous lives. Let go of your impoverished understanding of God and your circumscribed notion of morality. Strike out in a new direction. Cease your loveless ways and be compassionate. Celebrate the homecoming of the lost and rejoice in my Father’s munificence. (Brennan Manning paraphrasing Jesus words to the Pharisees in a Glimpse of Jesus)

Photo by Trevor Cole on Unsplash