"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
What a statement. What a quote.
When did you first hear it? How did you feel? What memories does it provoke in you now? What's the context of the passage? Was it used fairly, manipulatively or encouragingly?
For me the quote fills me with depression. It is the archetype of harsh judgemental thinking – a philosophy of beating down another and exerting total control. For me it is steeped in unreasonable judgement. It is used as a proof text to establish a problem that I am not certain really exists objectively outside of human ego – the problem that we are with total certainty deserve to be utterly annihilated in complete pain betrayed by a so called loving God in the most grotesque way imaginable. Then having convinced us that we are only fit for the rubbish heap we are offered a way out if we yield our God created freedom to a controlling task master who is unconcerned for our real wellbeing. At least that’s the way I extrapolate the attitude and logic of many "Christians".
I look at the whole context now and wonder what it says about the writer and their ability to relate to judgement. I wonder what it says about me.
Apparently mercy triumphs over judgement. And yet the Christianity I encountered was steeped in judgement. I think that passage says more about the one who wrote it and those who quote it than it says about the Divine. I think it reveals more about the hearts of men not the heart of God.
4 comments:
When I first heard this verse, it came as no shock to me because I was immersed in a Christian culture where we were assumed to be sinners. The verse was more of an explanation of the worldview we already had. Accordingly, I think you summarized it quite well when you said "I think it reveals more about the hearts of men not the heart of God".
I don't think I have so much of a problem with the verse itself as with what the church has done/does with it. i.e. they have started with the idea that we all mess up sometimes (which I am inclined to agree with!) but then extrapolated that to mean therefore we are all rubbish and in need of God to sort our lives out. Its belief in the inate 'sinfulness' or 'badness' of men rather than the inate potential/goodness... and I certainly know which I would rather believe!
I don't know where I first heard that quote but I do know I have heard it used a lot to justify not 'doing good works'. I also heard it used as 'we are all sinnners and in need of help'.
I struggle with people that use that to justify not doing good works, by good works I mean something that might actually produce change in the neighborhood you live in. It was like I was being told 'salvation by faith is all you need' and 'salvation by doing good works is blasphemy'. Still, doing something good for people is what Jesus did.
I guess you are speaking of the joy given and received when a person acts to enrich anothers life?
Wonderful stuff.
Peace
DM
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