"A good Christian is always nice."
I can not tell you how often this was expressed in my growing up years by those in my church, youth group, and family. It did not take long to see that there was some disagreement as to what "nice" means, but there was agreement that Christian people should be nice.
One of the most shocking revelations of my life occurred when I began to read the teachings of Jesus. I discovered that no where did he command believers to be nice. Loving, yes. Nice, not so much.
In fact, I discovered that the goal of my life and the goal of the church was something very different than being a nice person. The goal was to believe in Jesus as our only hope and then proclaim to all who will hear that Jesus is our only hope.
In fact, I discovered that the goal of my life and the goal of the church was something very different than being a nice person. The goal was to believe in Jesus as our only hope and then proclaim to all who will hear that Jesus is our only hope.
This does not mean that we are not to be good and honest folks. Faith in Jesus is not a license to walk in the flesh, the boastful pride of life, and self-serving ways.
But faith in Jesus also doesn't mean that now we have it all together, unlike those unbelievers out there. There is nothing more antithetical to the Christian faith than such religious pride. Our faith doesn't make us better than others. It makes us more aware of our sin and thus our need for God's grace found in Jesus.
In other words,
As a result, we don't need to pretend that we are always nice people who have it all together. We don't want to sit in judgment of others for the sins that could so easily mark our lives. When we struggle, and we all will, we can confess our sins and our needs to God and others. As we confess our need for Jesus, we will find His mercy afresh and anew, and as a result we will grow in holiness through heart transformation.
What an inversion of the message and vision of Christian living that I grew up hearing. What an inversion of the religious message that often resonates within my heart.
What do you think?
But faith in Jesus also doesn't mean that now we have it all together, unlike those unbelievers out there. There is nothing more antithetical to the Christian faith than such religious pride. Our faith doesn't make us better than others. It makes us more aware of our sin and thus our need for God's grace found in Jesus.
In other words,
"A good Christian knows how much they need Jesus,
and they are growing in their trust in his forgiveness,
love, and ability to change their heart toward righteousness."
As a result, we don't need to pretend that we are always nice people who have it all together. We don't want to sit in judgment of others for the sins that could so easily mark our lives. When we struggle, and we all will, we can confess our sins and our needs to God and others. As we confess our need for Jesus, we will find His mercy afresh and anew, and as a result we will grow in holiness through heart transformation.
What an inversion of the message and vision of Christian living that I grew up hearing. What an inversion of the religious message that often resonates within my heart.
What do you think?
I think by nice, people often mean "polite" or "tolerant" or "pay their debts, feed their kids." I know some evil people who are quite "nice" in this sense. Only the gospel gets it straight.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that Sarah! The real problem is that nice has no real definition. That means that everyone thinks they are nice- at least in some sense. The gospel is the answer. It gets us beyond the veneer to the heart wood.
ReplyDeleteA thought without trying to deal with semantics. I wonder what is a "good" person, or christian even. It seems that all that is "good" is not necessarily or even nearly "Godly". A true christian "...Christian knows how much they need Jesus, and they are growing in their trust in his forgiveness, love, and ability to change their heart toward righteousness." But a true christian may not have a "good" person label even when they are responding Godly.
ReplyDeleteGood point Anonymous. In a worldly world, Godliness looks like sin and sin looks like godliness. I would say that apart from the gospel and the grace of God changing one's heart, godly behavior often is mistaken for "not being nice."
ReplyDelete