Is Our Morality An Obstacle To Christianity?

Ten years ago, a Christian friend described how he was beginning to bring the gospel to his softball team. He had just joined the local league, partly for the fun of the game and partly to meet non-believers outside his Christian bubble.

However, he felt uncomfortable with his teammates’ cussing during practices and games. He asked them if they would stop, at least while he was with them.

They agreed and stopped (for the most part). He deemed this “cleaner language” an evangelistic victory. It hinted that his teammates might be choosing the right path. He felt that the gospel had been advanced.

Next, he planned to ask them to stop drinking.

Something about my friend’s story felt discordant. I didn’t sense anyone was closer to God. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt the gospel had been corrupted.

But I Wasn’t Sure Why

The world is filled with brokenness and oppression. We should be men and women who fight for justice and love our neighbor as ourselves. But those activities aren’t the gospel.

Linking the cessation of cussing to accepting the gospel unsettled me. It was like a slightly off-key singer or an out-of-tune instrument. The soft dissonance of my friend’s story continued to disturb me. I couldn’t shake it. But I wasn’t quite sure why.

Then I heard someone critique the modern version of the gospel. He said the modern gospel is:

Sin less. Work harder. Give more.

And that’s just wrong. It is a counterfeit gospel, and counterfeits succeed only when they look like the real thing. The problem with the false gospel portrayed above is that everyone smitten by the gospel will sin less, and will work harder, and will give more.

It’s just not the gospel. It’s a result of the gospel, but it isn’t the gospel.

It’s Also Not Just a Modern Counterfeit

I’ve asked scores of people (believers and non-believers) who the greatest enemies of Jesus were. Virtually everyone says the same thing: the enemies of Jesus were the Pharisees, scribes, and the religious leaders of the day.

No one—not one person—said that the greatest enemies of Jesus were the tax collectors, prostitutes, or adulterers (or cussers).

Isn’t that weird? People of all religions—even non-religious people—consider Jesus to be a great moral teacher. Yet his greatest enemies were the moralists, and some of his best friends were society’s sinners. It is upside down. Wouldn’t a moral teacher’s friends be the most moral and his enemies be the most sinful?

When asked by Pharisees about his upside-down living, Jesus answered,

Healthy people don’t need a doctor—the sick do … I came to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners. (Matt. 9:12-13)

Jesus didn’t say that the Pharisees were healthy and the tax collectors were sick. He said (in effect) that the tax collectors knew they were sick while the Pharisees, in their arrogance, mistakenly thought themselves healthy.

Some readers are going to say I’m against morality. I’m not. I wish everyone in the world were a thousand times more moral. (Including you and me.) But in our morality we need to be cautious. It can lead us—ever so slowly—to feel good about ourselves, which can lead us—ever so slowly—to self-righteousness. Which is the enemy of the gospel.

Another very modern counterfeit gospel is when we say, “I’m not so bad. I’m okay, you’re okay.” But it’s a modern version of the ancient Pharisee. We don’t see our need. The difference between the sinners and Pharisees was that the sinners knew their need.

It is that independent, self-righteousness that is killing the world.

Identifying Counterfeits

One way the Secret Service trains agents to spot counterfeits is for the agents to spend lots of time handling genuine currency. The best way to spot a counterfeit is to know the real thing. So, what is the real gospel?

• The gospel is not us being good so God will like us; it is God loving us despite our brokenness and sin. All we need is need.
• The gospel is not us showing God our good report card; it is Jesus living a perfect life and giving us his good report card as our own. All we need is need.
• The gospel is not us emptying our bank accounts to give to God; it is God pouring out his riches on us, the morally bankrupt, to make us rich. All we need is need.
• The gospel is not us cleaning up our acts or our families or our relationships or our mouths; it is God cleaning them up for us. All we need is need.

The gospel is like a two-sided coin: we are more wicked than we have ever dared admit; and we are more loved than we ever dared imagine. When we admit we are needy—in real need of a heart transformation—then receiving such undeserved love changes us, it gives us the needed transformation.

When we can admit that we are really no better than anyone else AND that we are also incredibly loved, then (and only then) we can instinctively love those around us who don’t live up to our moral standard.

Because—like everyone else—we didn’t live up to them either.

But He loved us anyway; because He always loves the needy. At least those who admit their need.

Sam

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This post is an excerpt from my book, Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids. People in the world often reject Christianity simply because they can’t distinguish it from mere morality.

The world needs morality–oppression thrives when consciences are abandoned–but we need more than morality alone. We need the gospel of grace. A gospel that has largely been lost amid the dos and don’ts and preoccupations of religious culture.

Join thousand of other readers who have delighted in this short, story-filled, thought-provoking book on grace.

The book is accompanied by a twelve-week Study Guide, filled with questions for reflection and exercises for growth; perfect for small groups or personal meditation. To download free Study Guide, Click Here (or on the image to the left).

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