"The basic position of man in rebellion against God is that man is at the centre of the universe, that he is autonomous - here lies his rebellion. Man will keep his rationalism and his rebellion, his insistence on total autonomy or partially autonomous areas, even if it means he must give up his rationality."
This is a fundamental point in evangelism and frequently missed in people's structured/gimmicky approaches to mission.
ReplyDeleteMany people say "I have lived a good life". The implication being, "I'm alright God, you go and sort out the wicked people - the murderers, paedophiles etc. You don't need to concern yourself with me."
A common response to the first statement is to ask "Have you ever told a lie? Well, in that case you are a sinner deserving of an eternal hell."
Strictly, that is true, but as a means of communicating it is somewhere between hopelessly inadequate and downright misleading. It makes it sound as though God is some petty, petulant megalomaniac, intent on finding the slightest wrong and using it as an excuse to torture fallible humans.
Instead, people need to realise the scale of offense that they are guilty of when they tell God that they are good enough. The point is that they are making themsleves gods of their own lives, determining right and wrong. When we do this webreak the first commandment: "You shall have no other God before me".
When we make gods of ourselves, we dismiss the Lord of the Universe, tell him that he's got it wrong, that he has no authority in our lives and that we know better than he does.
No wonder God is utterly offended at our behaviour!
Absolutely! "The carnal mind is enmity against God...so then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." We are, by virtue of our inherent, sinful nature, in rebellion against God, regardless of how many of God's rules we think we have or haven't kept. It's our desire for autonomy which is at the heart of the problem. But, yeah, I'm just reiterating what you and Mr. Schaeffer have said!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your helpful comment :)