Today, as I was sharing some of my past with a new Turkish friend, they said, "You aren't a good Christian." To this, I responded with, "There is no such thing as a good Christian. Jesus alone is good. That's the whole point of Christianity." I went on to talk about how grace makes the Christian faith different from all other major faiths in the world. This Turkish friend then went onto say that Jesus didn't do the things that I had, and I said, "Of course not. He's God and is perfection, there cannot be any sin in Him." It was a really interesting discussion, one that got me thinking the whole bus ride back to the flat I'm staying in here in Istanbul.
Now, chances are that I listen to too much of Matt Chandler for my own good, but he does have some interesting things to say on this subject matter especially. Even if you don't listen to Matt, though, the Bible is pretty clear on this subject as well. Whether it's Jesus Himself asking a man why he just referred to Him (Jesus) as 'good' teacher when God alone is good (implying that Jesus was in fact God Himself) or when Paul talks about how wretched a man He was before Christ but even after he followed Christ he struggled himself with doing the very things he hated and not doing the very things he desired to do, the idea that there is no such thing as a 'good' person is all throughout the Bible. We are so used to talking about how someone is a 'good' person in our culture that we really never give it the thought that it requires.
Many people use this argument when explaining why they don't need Christ in their lives. "Why do I need Christ when I'm already a 'good' person?" The problem is that they're using other people as a standard as opposed to using God as the standard of what is good. People will inevitably point to others when justifying themselves as being 'good' people. For some, it's as ludicrous as saying something like, "Well, I've done some bad things sure, but I'm not like Hitler or anything." Really? Do you really want to use Hitler as your measuring stick of how 'good' you are? Or they'll use other extreme examples like pedophiles or murderers. Even when using the measuring stick of other people as what is a 'good' person, I would argue many if not the vast majority of people still fall short of what is 'good' even defined in their own terms. For example, are you a 'good' person compared to Mother Theresa or Nelson Mandela? It becomes infinitely more ridiculous when you consider yourself 'good' in light of perfection, that is, God Himself revealed in Jesus Christ.
Whether it's the church-attending man who has never broken a societal law but has the sin of pride in his heart that only God knows about, or the drug addict who knows he needs to stop in order to save his life but still takes that next hit, everyone needs Jesus. No one is good, not even one. We often make the mistake of placing more emphasis on more easily visible sins but that misses the point, doesn't it? How often did Jesus point to the state of one's heart as being more important that what was presented on the outside? If we don't see each other as equals at the foot of the Cross, some seriously mistaken theologies and actions are inevitably what follows. For instance, if someone came into our church that was openly gay, would we have a problem with it? Would we feel that we were condoning homosexuality? If so, why do we welcome those who went through a divorce, and not on the grounds of infidelity or abuse, without feeling like we are condoning divorce? Is the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers to the one not available to the other?
A person, left to their own devices, can never make themselves 'good' enough to stand in the presence of God. That is why we need Jesus Christ. It is through His death, burial, and resurrection that we can stand in the presence of a holy God. Wait a minute, stand probably isn't the right word there. Maybe come into His presence or bow in His presence would be better there. When we accept Jesus, God sees Jesus when He looks at us. This is beyond my comprehension and this blog entry would do a terrible disservice to try and get into too deeply on this subject. However, from what I understand, Jesus covers over our sins and removes them from us before God. We are called holy in the Scriptures, and this can only come from Christ alone and His sanctifying work in our hearts and lives.
Many of my closest friends and family would call me a 'good' Christian man. I would have to argue this point though on a Biblical basis. Christ alone is good. He sees my filth and yet His kindness leads me to repentance. Now, there may be some good that I've done in my life, but it only comes from following the path that Christ has set before me and getting out of the way to let the Holy Spirit do the good. So maybe in reality I've done no good at all, but only been a conduit of the Holy Spirit doing good through me. Wow, almost sound like a Calvinist there, maybe I have been listening to Chandler too much lately :)
Now, chances are that I listen to too much of Matt Chandler for my own good, but he does have some interesting things to say on this subject matter especially. Even if you don't listen to Matt, though, the Bible is pretty clear on this subject as well. Whether it's Jesus Himself asking a man why he just referred to Him (Jesus) as 'good' teacher when God alone is good (implying that Jesus was in fact God Himself) or when Paul talks about how wretched a man He was before Christ but even after he followed Christ he struggled himself with doing the very things he hated and not doing the very things he desired to do, the idea that there is no such thing as a 'good' person is all throughout the Bible. We are so used to talking about how someone is a 'good' person in our culture that we really never give it the thought that it requires.
Many people use this argument when explaining why they don't need Christ in their lives. "Why do I need Christ when I'm already a 'good' person?" The problem is that they're using other people as a standard as opposed to using God as the standard of what is good. People will inevitably point to others when justifying themselves as being 'good' people. For some, it's as ludicrous as saying something like, "Well, I've done some bad things sure, but I'm not like Hitler or anything." Really? Do you really want to use Hitler as your measuring stick of how 'good' you are? Or they'll use other extreme examples like pedophiles or murderers. Even when using the measuring stick of other people as what is a 'good' person, I would argue many if not the vast majority of people still fall short of what is 'good' even defined in their own terms. For example, are you a 'good' person compared to Mother Theresa or Nelson Mandela? It becomes infinitely more ridiculous when you consider yourself 'good' in light of perfection, that is, God Himself revealed in Jesus Christ.
Whether it's the church-attending man who has never broken a societal law but has the sin of pride in his heart that only God knows about, or the drug addict who knows he needs to stop in order to save his life but still takes that next hit, everyone needs Jesus. No one is good, not even one. We often make the mistake of placing more emphasis on more easily visible sins but that misses the point, doesn't it? How often did Jesus point to the state of one's heart as being more important that what was presented on the outside? If we don't see each other as equals at the foot of the Cross, some seriously mistaken theologies and actions are inevitably what follows. For instance, if someone came into our church that was openly gay, would we have a problem with it? Would we feel that we were condoning homosexuality? If so, why do we welcome those who went through a divorce, and not on the grounds of infidelity or abuse, without feeling like we are condoning divorce? Is the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers to the one not available to the other?
A person, left to their own devices, can never make themselves 'good' enough to stand in the presence of God. That is why we need Jesus Christ. It is through His death, burial, and resurrection that we can stand in the presence of a holy God. Wait a minute, stand probably isn't the right word there. Maybe come into His presence or bow in His presence would be better there. When we accept Jesus, God sees Jesus when He looks at us. This is beyond my comprehension and this blog entry would do a terrible disservice to try and get into too deeply on this subject. However, from what I understand, Jesus covers over our sins and removes them from us before God. We are called holy in the Scriptures, and this can only come from Christ alone and His sanctifying work in our hearts and lives.
Many of my closest friends and family would call me a 'good' Christian man. I would have to argue this point though on a Biblical basis. Christ alone is good. He sees my filth and yet His kindness leads me to repentance. Now, there may be some good that I've done in my life, but it only comes from following the path that Christ has set before me and getting out of the way to let the Holy Spirit do the good. So maybe in reality I've done no good at all, but only been a conduit of the Holy Spirit doing good through me. Wow, almost sound like a Calvinist there, maybe I have been listening to Chandler too much lately :)
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