“Jesus.” Sadly, these days you don’t know whether that’s a curse word or an answer to life’s biggest question. Let me ask though – which version does the world really need?
I talked a couple of days ago about the confusion of humanity that comes from having as many versions of “right” and “wrong” as we do self-centered, emotional human beings. Honestly, there are the big ones about which we would think we can all agree, but even now we can’t be too sure. I mean, there was a time when most people would say it’s not good to have sex with people other than the one you married. But now, a sizable group of people don’t mind in the slightest. It’s certainly not a disqualifying factor when it comes to being rewarded for your work with a shiny gold statue.
The same goes for the taking of a human life. A half century ago, it was bad. Now? Not so much. Depends on where that life is located. Lying? Well, our former president did it blatantly and quite often, and still got over 70 million people to vote for him in the last election (see also: adultery).
These simple observations might have one saying “Jesus” the curse word (I know Trump’s tenure had people saying it all the time). But we all know “Jesus” the answer is the only one that’s going to do us any good. Still, and as self-centered beings are wont to do, we prefer our own way. Even if it makes things a mess. Even if it makes us slap someone on network TV over a simple joke at the expense of a woman who doesn’t think enough of us to be faithful.
Still, we just can’t admit that it’s not always about me. That overall, in the big-picture sense of things, it’s better for society if everyone was more truthful. Or was more faithful to the people with whom we’ve made a promise. Or didn’t kill babies in the womb. I mean, I know we still won’t do it, but at least to have a conscience that gives pause when we’re tempted to go against that which is better for us all.
How, though, does Jesus do us any good? I mean, even I have to admit there’s been an immense amount of “goings against one’s consciences” among the Jesus crowd. And while there’s still also an immense amount of good being done by others who claim his name, we’ve still got the Trump thing as “Exhibit A” in the “me” crowd’s protests to having “Jesus” foisted upon them.
But I say again (as I have written here plenty in the past), we have to look past the very same pool of beings who don’t truly honor God with all of their hearts (that would be all of us, really) and look to the one about whom I am speaking. Why is he the better way?
Maybe because he is the one who called us to love our enemies. The one who called us to give sacrificially to the poor and heal the sick and hurting. The one who himself took what we deserved and died with that on his shoulders.
I say this over a thousand protests, I’m sure. “Whatabout this?” “Whatabout that?” “Do you really believe in these fairy tales?” “You know your Bible is just a book written by a bunch of men, don’t you?” “Everybody knows we’re just the product of evolution.”
There are good answers for all of the protests, but we’re so hell-bent (no pun intended) in denying the existence of a creator that we’ll cling to scientific impossibilities and call them “science” nonetheless. Maybe it’s here where the problem really arises. Because if a good portion of us are willing to believe that all of creation is just the product of some magical random happening – if we all sprung out of nothing and evolved to what we are today – then Will Smith was just fine in slapping Chris Rock. Because none of us can judge what another random product of evolution does. He had a “right” to do so because in reality, what are rights if they are ungrounded in anything?
I don’t think I can say this in many more ways than I have in the nearly two years I’ve written here. There is this in Jesus: he is the one who knew no sin made sin for my sake, so that in him I might become his righteousness. Yeah, he taught us all those things I mentioned earlier, but most importantly — and because we all know that we fall far short in all of those things — he went the rest of the way in our places. So that those who believe in him might have eternal life.
This is the gospel — not, “to do a bunch of good stuff that we’ll be rewarded with heaven,” but rather, that “Jesus has done the good for us, and then exchanged that goodness for our rebellion, taking it to the cross with him, where he died with it so that we may have life.”
While all of the good we do may follow, this, first and foremost, is the better way.