Monday, August 15, 2016
509 - Oh My Goodness
Spirituality Column No. 509
August 16, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
August 16, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Oh My Goodness
By Bob Walters
“God is good, and I’m
not.”
That’s how I would boil down the
Bible’s entire message in six words or less.
Some might say they could chop it
to three: “God is good.” Well in that case, probably the better three
words are: “Forget about me.” No one has to remind God He is good; He
knows. Forgetting I’m not the center of
creation requires more practice.
And that’s OK. It’s a good lesson to review. I’m a Jesus trusting, Bible believing, God
fearing and Spirit sensing Christian, and I’ll go ahead and boast about that in
the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24, 1 Corinthians 1:31).
The one thing I won’t do is imagine that my faith makes me a good person. What it does is make me aware I’m not.
If, as my good friend May always
says, “It is only my sin that qualifies me for the grace of Christ,” then let
me state here and now, I’m overqualified. Most Christians I know can relate, and it
seems that out there in the culture every non-Christian or quasi-Christian
trying to criticize the church or the faith or Jesus Himself imagines that my knowing
walk with Christ is a walk in my own personal arrogance. No, that’s the one thing it can’t be. But if that’s the impression one gets, then it’s
either an indictment of me and my behavior or you and your faulty understanding
of the Bible … or both.
Keep it simple: God is good, and
I’m not.
Everything about Jesus – what He
preached, what He noticed, what He criticized, what he lived for and what he
died for – was about His humility and God’s glory. Jesus personified the humble heart of a
loving God. Christ’s mission to the
cross was not to arrogantly reveal his own identity and power before fallen,
fearful man. It was to teach us the limitless
truth of a glorious God who loves every one of us, His own Creation, and teach us how to re-engage in freedom and
faith, in loving, eternal relationship, with our Father in heaven. Why? Because
we were created for it.
I always flinch when I hear a
sermon preached about “being a good person” or when someone defends their lack
of dependence on Christ with “I’m a good person” or whatever a “good person”
cliché is addressing. The hard truth of Christianity
is that anyone expecting to come to church and “become a good person” has been
sold a spurious bill of goods. The only
“good person” ever was Jesus Christ.
Our peace and rest in Jesus – our
“Sabbath” – isn’t in “being good;” it’s in knowing that the pressure is off,
that Jesus is the cover and the cleanser of our sins, and His goodness is the
warmth of God’s love.
My Sabbath is my Jesus, and that’s
plenty good enough for me.
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