I'm Not Okay, You're Not Okay

One of the worst developments within our culture in the past fifty years must surely be the notion that we are mostly pretty good. The entire crux of the Bible is that man has a sin problem that separates him from God and he desperately needs a cure and that cure was provided on the cross by the death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. There are three basic elements to this: 1) man has a sin problem (the sickness), 2) he cannot cure it (the need), and 3) the cure was provided by the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ (the cure). Attacking these truths from any angle attacks the gospel. Disparaging the truth of the resurrection, for example, leaves mankind without a cure for his sickness. The cultural notion that we have of "I'm okay, you're okay" attacks the first element, which is man's sickness. If man does not realize he is sick, he will not seek a doctor and if he does not seek a doctor then he will not realize the desperation of his situation and he will not find the cure.

I'm sitting in a Starbucks at LAX right now and I'm watching the people ordering their drinks and pastries and they all seem so similar. In fact they are all similar, but not in the way that they appear. They appear to be so similar in that they appear to all be so good. We have the notion that if someone is normal (by our cultural standards) then they are good. We feel so sorry for the poor soul that suddenly appears abnormal. The slightly unstable person who is not as good at hiding as the rest of us are and who ends up doing something culturally unacceptable such as yelling in public. That person then becomes somebody who "Needs help." What kind of help do they need? If we are atheists then we might think that they need a visit to a psychiatrist, but if we are Christian we might believe that they need the Lord. But the problem here is that our need for the Lord is not measured in terms of our normalcy. We all require the Lord and fooling ourselves into any other belief creates an extremely perilous situation where we are deathly ill but without any knowledge of it. Consider this passage:

And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 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 9:10-13)

This is one of the greatest warnings in the Bible but it is also a little disguised so it becomes easy to pass by and therefore it is one of the most dangerous passages in the Bible. Consider what Jesus tells the Pharisees. It is apparent from other passages that everyone needs Jesus:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

So the great warning of Matthew 9 is that those who believe they are well will not seek Jesus. The cure becomes worthless to those who believe they are well because they will not seek for it, not because they do not need it. And now we are working so hard in our culture to convince everyone that they are "okay." In other words we are working so hard to convince everyone who is culturally normal that they are well, that is, righteous. And if they are convinced that they are well then they are not called by Jesus because they will not seek for a cure for a sickness they do not realize that they have.

The victim here is evangelism. Even Jesus himself pointed out that evangelism was less effective for those who think themselves righteous (see Matthew 9 quote above). Within this thought is the answer to the problem but I confess that I think it troubles "middle class Christians." The answer is that Christians must reach out to those who are not "normal" by society's definitions. We must evangelize to the "sick" and the "sick" in a "Christian nation" such as ours are those who the society labels unacceptable. These realize their sickness much more readily and are willing to reach out to a cure so it is to them that we should go.

Many Paths?

There was a story on the Life page of USA Today titled, "Believers OK with Many Paths" that talked about a new survey in which 70 percent of the respondents said that "Many religions can lead to eternal life."

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

For Love

Titus 3 tells us:

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:1-2)

There are so many passages like this in the New Testament, passages that draw a particular picture of the Christian. I admit that it is a picture I don't live up to. I also admit that many American churches don't teach this particular picture of the Christian.

One of the beautiful things about this passage is how, after drawing the picture of the Christian here - the submissive, obedient, ready for every good work, speaking evil of no one, non-quarreling, gentle and perfectly courteous Christian - Paul goes on to tell us why he asks us to be this way:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

We are asked to be this way because of what we once were - foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, and hating others and being hated by others. (This convicts me! Too often I'm still like this. God help me!)

And Paul pushes the point further still:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

We were saved when we were foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, and hating others and being hated by others. We were not saved when we were submissive, obedient, ready for every good work, speaking evil of no one, non-quarreling, gentle and perfectly courteous people.

It is encouraging to me that Paul tells Titus to "remind them" to be the right way. (Am I fooling myself to assume that this means that they, too, had not discovered how to really live this way yet?) When Jesus came to save us we were not living the way that Paul tells Titus to "remind them" to be. We are saved apart from living the right way and yet Paul encourages us to become what we should be. This encouragement does not come from the threat of punishment but rather from the thought that God saved us while we were "dead in our trespasses" (Ephesians 2:5). The fleshly part of me responds, "Why be good if I was saved when I was evil?" But the motivation here is love, not fear. I love the Lord who saved me and so I want to please him. He is pleased if I do the acts of a servant, if I become a submissive, obedient, ready for every good work, speaking evil of no one, non-quarreling, gentle and perfectly courteous Christian and so this is what I strive to become.