Our pastor, Jonathan Falk, wrote this article for our church newsletter in August, at the time of the temple shooting in Wisconsin. He has agreed to share it with us. His ideas are thought provoking as we struggle with the evil in our world.
“When a gunman opens fire in a public place and kills unsuspecting bystanders, we are shocked by the evil. But as the reports of the survivors begin to surface, we hear of individual deeds of heroism and bravery. Witnesses whose lives were spared in the shooting will sometimes say of those who risked their own lives to save others, “It just proves that people are basically good.” But is it true? By what standard do people arrive at this conclusion?
Someone once asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Matt. [19:16], 17). Can individual acts of heroism and kindness to strangers be good enough to secure eternal life? Jesus defines true goodness as godliness, and godliness is perfect conformity to God’s law. To be truly good is to be like God Himself.
So we must contrast true goodness with who we are as human beings. I think of a quote from Prince Caspian, one of the Narnia books of C. S. Lewis that I read to my children when they were young. “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve” said Aslan. “And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.” We enter this world as image bearers of God, and yet rebels against His rule. We are capable of deeds of heroism and courage, and yet we’re horrified by the corruption of our own hearts. What hope do we have of finding true goodness?
The answer is found in Jesus Christ alone. He is the standard of goodness by His perfect obedience to the law of God. And He is the source of our goodness when He died in our place to forgive our sins. Jesus makes us good in God’s sight by forgiving us and clothing us in His own righteousness. And He secured for us the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives us a new nature that loves goodness and seeks to please God. “Goodness is godliness” and flows from the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
When bad things happen—not to good people but to other sinners like ourselves—we grieve at the evil that resides in the human heart. As we pray for those suffering, we renew our zeal to reach an “unbelieving and perverse generation” with the gospel. But we must never look at a mass murderer and think that we are good in God’s eyes compared to Him. Without Christ, our hearts are just as far from God. But we look away from the evil of our own heart to Jesus instead. In Him we find true goodness—a goodness that alone is acceptable to God.”
He nailed it. This is a hard saying but very clearly true.
I was thinking somewhat along these lines last night…good to see it spelled out more clearly. Sobering and humbling–thanks for sharing.
Exactly.
Diana