The power of the gospel hinges on one essential principle – we are all reprobates. Hopelessly so. Equally so.
As simple and callous as it may sound stated in that way, the truth remains that we all stand in comparison to an endlessly holy, powerful God – far beyond the capacity of our mind and far exceeding the bounds of our morality. We all fall short. We all need to be championed by an advocate. We are all equally in need.
Equally in need, no matter our vice we all step forward muddied. Gossip or drug dealer, hater or abuser, prideful or prejudiced – if we step forward repentant, trusting, penitent we’re redeemed by the advocacy of Jesus Christ before a holy God. Hence the beautiful transition from cast out and condemned to sons and daughters. As I heard from a pulpit recently, we all stand at the foot of the cross on level ground. Believing in the gospel means believing in this.
So why pretend? Why do us, the few who darken the doors of a church each Sunday, pretend to be any more righteous than the local pusher? Why portray an illusion of a neat package when we’re more like a tempest in a teapot on most days?
Our righteousness is not our own. It’s a gift gladly worn in this world as a beacon of love and not a mantle of achievement.
So let’s come clean – as real, broken, flawed people constantly in need of redemption. The cracks in our life exposed for all to see will let the light shine through.
Great thoughts, Brad. I’m preaching at our church this Sunday and making a similar point, namely that it’s not an us/them dynamic with non-Christians, since all of humanity is lost equally. We just are the ones who realize it and have asked forgiveness, but it’s not like we belong in heaven and everyone belongs in sin. No one “belongs” in sin.