What does a non-Christian look like?
The mental picture that Christians seem to have of sinners is one of bloodthirsty, gothic gangsters. They only speak in vulgarities, sleep with multiple sexual partners nightly, and stumble through life impaired by meth. They generally congregate only in underground gay nightclubs, biker bars, Satanic temples, or black markets hidden in the sewers. They prowl the streets committing random acts of terror and carving pentagrams into the bodies of their victims. They eat children.
How many atheists, agnostics, Satanists, or Buddhists do you actually know? I doubt you know any that eat children. I doubt you know any with knowledge of secret bondage-in-a-sewer clubs. Not one person that subscribes to these four belief (or non-belief) systems claims to derive their sense of morality from any form of deity, and yet most of them would be considered “good people.” In essence, these godless savages worship themselves, because the one belief they do hold is that the seventy five years you get on this earth are best spent on the pursuit of happiness.
Just like Christians.
These people live and work in our communities. They go to our schools. They show up in churches. They hold office in our governments. They teach our children. They believe in the rule of law, good manners, and common decency. They raise their kids to be upstanding citizens. All of these are traits on which Christians claim to have a monopoly.
Most of Christian philosophy boils down to the notion that Jesus was a great man who offered humanity a better set of principles by which to live, and if we just abide by those ideals, both the earthly life and the afterlife will be far more pleasant.
But what good is that theology if every other culture in the history of man has figured out those principles without any cognizance of the one true God? Are Christians really the truth cartel, or is all truth God’s truth? Every civilization has a moral code that is remarkably similar to the American Christian’s.
Every culture recognizes and appreciates the law of “You reap what you sow.” And every peaceful culture bases their code of law on the Golden Rule: do unto others what you would have them do unto you. Easterners are on to something when they speak of karma and ahimsa. Every culture places value on some form of prayer or meditation. They know there is something spiritual happening; they just don’t cram the particulars into the box of Christian vernacular. Most importantly, atheists and pagans know right from wrong, just like Christians. Nobody has to explain, “Thou shalt not kill” to them. Romans 2:15 postulates that “the Law” that rules God’s Kingdom is “written on [every unbeliever’s] heart.”
“The Law” that the Bible speaks of is the basic operating procedure for human interaction. It is a set of values that govern right and wrong. And because God loves humans (for some ungodly reason), this law is very important to him for the protection of the ones he loves. When we violate or misapply one of these principles, we inevitably hurt someone else.
When the Apostle Paul says that this Law is written on our hearts, he means that it is ingrained into the consciousness of every single human. As it stands, there are more law-abiding people than outlaws. When the balance shifts, God generally responds with something like a great flood, fire and brimstone, a hostile takeover by foreign conquerors, or a Messiah.
Let’s assume humans are like cars. Actually, don’t assume that. I will not be held responsible for a few idiots ingesting gasoline because they take everything I say literally. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS METAPHOR, let’s assume humans are like cars. In this particular metaphor’s economy, the most desired feature of any car (in this particular metaphor’s economy) is called “The Law.” Any car that is not equipped with The Law is deemed unsafe, worthless, and destined for a junkyard. So, the omnipotent government mandates that every car be fitted with the Law. If The Law is a standard feature on every model of human that rolls off the assembly line, what makes one more valuable than the other? Labels. Titles. Model names.
A Dodge Neon and a Chrysler PT Cruiser are the same car. They are built on the exact same chassis and driveline. They get the same gas mileage. The only thing that separates the two is the label, unless you can justify paying an extra $10,000 for PT Cruiser’s body shape (which, like a mullet, is business in the front and party in the back). Either way, the perceived value is determined by something entirely superficial. They have the same guts.
If we all have the same guts, why is salvation so often boiled down to unfair judgments based on works and appearances? Even if Christians claim that one is saved by faith and not by works, we still make unfair judgments based on works. Ask yourself this: what subset of people is more fixated on actions and appearances than Christians?
What churchgoer really notices when a normal, law-abiding, body-modification-free youth group kid gets saved? When Beaver Cleaver shows up at the church’s doorstep, there is little concern for his soul, but plenty of salivation over having him join the ranks of our church. The condition of his soul is often overlooked because we need him on the worship team, or we need to plug him into the puppet ministry or something.
On the other hand, the reformation of an orgy-loving, heroine fiend/rock musician is always a shock and a delight, so much so that Christians turn them into trophies. We parade them in front of congregations, put them on all the TV shows, and make them instant fixtures on the youth camp speaking circuit. In our minds, Beaver Cleaver might as well have been a Christian all along. He already fit the mold. But the dope fiend rock musician’s salvation must have truly taken an earth-shaking miracle on par with the parting of the red sea, because without Christ he was probably a flesh-eating, demon-possessed maniac.
What about mission trips and service projects? Have you ever noticed that our benevolent evangelism efforts are always geared towards the poor, as if they need Jesus any less than the rich? If you actually (beeear with me…) read the words of Jesus, you would know that it is nearly impossible for the rich to make it to Heaven.
Many of us really are after a salvation that is based entirely on shallow standards. We just want to claim the “good” people under the right label. We want to claim that any car fitted with The Law is a Christian make and model. But that’s ridiculous, and you know it. Everything we know about goodness and godliness is wrong.
The ugly truth is that you don’t need God to be what most would call a “good person.” We don’t need to be conscious of God to be upstanding citizens or to raise virtuous children. There are a few billion people who do that just fine without Jesus Christ, because God has built the Law into every person’s spirit.
Please don’t think I want to diminish the work of the Holy Spirit. He alone convicts people of their need for God and brings about true repentance. He brings about the second birth and regeneration in every believer. But He doesn’t issue “Get-out-of-Hell-Free” cards based on your adherence to a moral code. He wants no part of cheap salvation that is meant to cleanse the conscience and make you feel like a good person.
Good people don’t need God, and it is also true that God doesn’t need good people. There are countless Scriptural examples of God passing over all the good, strong, morally virtuous people in favor of murderous, adulterous, wishy-washy deadbeats like King David to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Remember, He is the one that said “There is none righteous. Not one.” There is nothing good about the human race. We are by nature and by choice damned. Just in case you still don’t get it, here’s what God thinks of you apart from Him:
Romans 3:10-18
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Jesus often castigated the good people publicly. He would say your mouth is like a rotten, filthy grave. Your lips are so vile that they kill people. Deception and bitterness is your native language. Everything you touch falls apart.
So much of modern Christianity is about helping you become a better you, as if Jesus died so you could fulfill your potential. The reality is this: left to fulfill our potential, you and I murdered Jesus.
