Human beings make mistakes. If you are one, this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. For the most part, we are good at forgiving ourselves, but other people? Not so much.
Our culture has jettisoned absolute standards. We are told that everyone is free to choose what is right and wrong for themselves, and yet we constantly find fault in others.
Paradoxically, we now live in the age of relativism and moral outrage. While this is understandable in secular culture, Christians should not succumb to either.
Christianity is the only religion that says while there are universal moral standards, you cannot earn God’s love or favor by trying to meet them. The Cross shows that we all have sinned, and that no one deserves the grace that Jesus freely gives.
If we truly understood this, could Christians really be proud and self-righteous?
Too often we are, and Jesus knew we would be.
In the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor, Jesus reveals the depths of human ingratitude.
A servant owed a king a staggering amount of money, a sum he would never be able to repay. Shockingly, the king chooses to forgive this man’s debt completely.
Having been dealt with so mercifully, how does the servant respond?
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.” - Matthew 18:28
The king finds out, and needless to say, he is angry and punishes the servant.
Fair enough, right? How could anyone act like that? But doesn’t this describe a lot of Christians today? We all have been forgiven a massive debt, one that we could never repay, and yet when it comes to the failings of others, we are too often surprised and harsh.
How could they talk like that? Vote like that? Say those words? Make those choices?
But Jesus knew sinners would sin – that’s why He came! He went after the heart, knowing the behavior would follow.
We need to be like Him.
Followers of Jesus should be the most humble, the least judgmental, the most welcoming of anyone – yet we are often the opposite.
Have we forgotten that we are forgiven debtors?
A Christian who does not recognize his own sinfulness will inevitably become self-righteous. This version of Christianity not only fails to follow Christ but hurts our witness.
If we are going to regain the ear of the secular world, we need to stop being shocked by sin and remember who we are: saved sinners passing on the mercy we’ve received to others.