There is a religion that dominates the American social landscape today, more so than any other, and it isn't Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, or Mormonism. It's not Islam and it's not Buddhism or any Eastern religions.
Just what is this religion, so powerful yet so subtle you've never even seen a church dedicated to it, or signs advertising for it, or even heard its name spoken? It is the "Good Person" religion. It is the religion that, basically, says, "I'm good enough that, if there turns out to be a God and an afterlife, at least I know I'm on God's good side." Strangely enough, the Good Person religion is just as evident in secular circles as it is in religious ones.
The problem with the Good Person religion is that, in the end, its believers only compare themselves with other people. For example, suppose you were to go up to a drug addict and say, "You're a sinner." The drug addict says to you, "Well, sure I have this addiction here, but at least I'm not as bad as the murderer over there." You go up to the murderer, and the murderer tells you, "Sure, I killed a guy 20 years ago, but at least I'm not as bad as a guy like Joseph Stalin, or Adolph Hitler, who killed millions of people."
See the problem here? The problem is that, as long as we compare ourselves to other people, there will always be somebody worse than us. If the Good Person religion were true, then, in reality, hell would be a place reserved for whoever the worst sinner in the history of the world is and no one else. Everyone else would be able to get out of hell by pointing a finger at someone else, the guy who cheated on one more test than them, who killed more people than them, etc. As long as we compare ourselves to a societal standard we will always consider ourselves "good."
But what happens when we compare ourselves to a holy and perfect God? What happens when our goodness is shattered at the foot of someone who truly is good? Do we still have it all together for the next life? In the words of Paul in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (NIV). What happens when this profound truth infiltrates into our cozy little I'm-a-pretty-good-guy worldview?
The result, my friends, is that we're all bound for hell. And that is a thought no one likes to entertain.
In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the "Parable of the Lost Son," where a son, discontent with the property his father gave him, runs away from his father's house to spend all his money "in wild living" (Luke 15:13), only for the whole land to run into a famine and his wealth to be lost. After a long time, the son finally decides to return home. Upon arrival, he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21).
And what does the father say? Does he tell him, "Of course you don't deserve it, you ran away and wasted your life! Don't ever come near my house again!" like most people would? No. Instead, he holds a celebration in honor of his son returning and says, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:24).
All of us have run away from our Father. Sure, we may not be as bad as the bully at school or the thief who robbed a bank or the tyrannical dictator who killed a million people, but all of us have done something, big or small, to separate us from being a part of God's kingdom. All of us, one way or another, have run away from his life-giving arms and into the same sinful life that the lost son in the parable led. And that is why Jesus came to die--not to show us how to lead a good moral life but to atone for our sinful lives in a way we could not. And all that is required of us is to acknowledge our sinfulness and put our trust in him.
I don't know about you, but personally, I find it far more comforting to know there is a Father who will forgive His children in spite of their constant failures than a Father who requires them to lead an upright and pious life.
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