One of the most insidious tricks that we play on ourselves is the idea that sin and evil is something external to us. It’s something on the outside that comes in. “The devil made me do it” we claim, as if we have no control, no agency, over our own behavior, thoughts, and opinions. No, it’s not our fault. It was them. It was that thing. It wasn’t really me.
I’ve been familiar with this mindset for a very long time. You guys know me. You know I’m this nerdy guy who’s into Dungeons and Dragons and sci-fi and fantasy and all that stuff. I’ve been into it a long time. Growing up, I was considered “at-risk” because the people in my church were convinced that anyone who had such hobbies was bound to grow up as a serial killer or a devil worshiper or something equally horrible. Surely, anyone who pretends to be a knight-in-shining-armor for a couple hours each week is doomed to a life of vilest evil. Well, surprise!
News flash: It is just a game. Nothing more.
Of course, Christian gamers like me are hardly the only example of this idea at work. All you need do anymore is turn on the news and you’ll see it in droves. There’s all this talk about dress codes in schools lately. About how girls wearing certain clothing are being singled out as a “distraction” for their male counterparts. But in pretty much every case, these young ladies are not wearing anything even remotely inappropriate. Modest shorts and tank tops, the sort of thing you might see worn even here at church. But regardless, these boys just can’t control themselves when they can view a girl’s kneecap or shoulder.
Gasp! How dare pastor show something so pornographic on his sermon blog.
(And yes, this is the outfit that got this girl sent home for inappropriate clothing.)
There’s all this talk about “rape culture,” about how women ask for it by the clothes they wear. As if these rapists are just fine upstanding citizens until a woman walks by in a miniskirt. It’s not their fault. They couldn’t help it. What nonsense.
We’ve also been treated over the last few weeks to the latest chapter in the increasingly sordid tale of Josh Duggar. You know, when we were first exposed to the Duggar family with their reality TV show, it also brought to light the whole home schooling movement in conservative Christianity. How these families guaranteed that they were raising fine Christian men and women by making sure that they heard none of that talk about evolution and human sexuality and whatever else they find so objectionable in public school curricula. The more spiteful side of me would like to ask those parents how that worked out for them with their eldest son both a child molester and a confessed adulterer. But that wouldn’t be very nice of me.
But this is what we want to be true. We don’t want to face the fact that we, each one of us, is capable of horrific evil. Each one of us can commit the most vile of sins. And we can do it because we want to, because we choose to, and nobody or nothing outside influences that choice. It was us. We did it.
So to avoid facing that truth about ourselves, we’ve created this elaborate lie. It’s always something outside of us. The devil made me do it.
Of course, human behavior being what it is, this is not a new thing. The followers of the ancient Jewish religion were fastidious in avoiding the things outside that they felt would cause them to become sinful, much as many Christians are today. They cast out the people from their communities that were “unclean.” They would ritually wash the “sin” off their hands before eating their meals. Their behaviors seem odd, disturbing, or even laughable to us today, but they aren’t that different from what we do here and now. They serve the same purpose; giving us an excuse to believe our sin is caused by taint from outside sources. It’s not our fault. It’s them. It’s those things.
Jesus in not interested in playing their games. When they call him and his disciples out for the failure to abide by these silly rules, he turns the tables on them and reminds them of the truth. No, it’s not about what you wash off the outside of your person, it’s what’s inside that matters. If what’s inside is rotten, well...no amount of washing or any other fastidious behavior is going to change that.
And so it is with us too. If we really want to “come clean,” we have to be up front with ourselves. Sin is real. And our sin is our sin. We own it. We can’t pass it off onto other people or other things. No, the devil didn’t make you do it. You chose that course. I chose it. We did it. It was us.
Our insides are rotten. We are sinners through and through.
There’s no avoiding that. We can and have done the vilest and ugliest things in life. By all rights, we should face the consequences of those behaviors. We should be damned for what we’ve done.
But we’re not. We’re not damned. Instead, we are saved. And we’re not saved because we’ve avoided sin. No, we’re saved because God chose save us. His choice. His decision. His action is what saves us. He chose to send Jesus into this world. And Jesus chose to go to the cross willingly for our sake. He chose to die for our sake. He chose to save us.
Not because we deserved it. Quite the contrary. Not because we’re just the most perfect sinless most righteous people ever. Again, quite the contrary. No, we saved because God loves us. Loves us enough to provide an answer to our sin, a real answer, not one that dodges the truth about who we are and what we’re capable of. God’s fully aware of all that, but that’s not what matters to him in the end. What matters is that he loves us and he wants to be with us, so he provided a way.
It seems nonsense. We’re not very loveable when you really get down to it. We’re violent, hateful, perverse, and greedy. Everyone of us. There’s no denying any of that. Not if we’re honest. But God’s goodness is greater than all that. God’s love is greater than all that. God chooses us despite our sin. And that’s the truth. Amen.
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