Years ago, in my previous life as a sportswriter, I was listening to a university president talk about a coach that he’d decided not to fire despite the coach being caught in an extra-marital affair with a subordinate employee in the athletic office.
This was years ago, before the “Me Too” movement and the cancel culture. These days there wouldn’t be much hesitation in firing that coach, and justifiably so.
But back in those days, sometimes being successful – winning games – covered a multitude of sins.
The president’s resume listed him as being a Presbyterian minister. At one point, in a scrum with reporters, he said his reason for retaining this coach was, “I believe men are basically good.”
I said, “As a Presbyterian, I would think you’re a Calvinist. What about the total depravity of man?”
He ignored my question, perhaps rightfully so. This wasn’t the place for a theological discussion. But a couple of the reporters who were there with me later told me they thought it was a great comeback.
The “total depravity of man” is a solid theological concept, but I wonder if it’s not often misunderstood.
The idea, I think, is an acknowledgement that the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3:6, the whole eating of the fruit thing) every part of man has been corrupted by sin, often referred to as our “sin nature.” This corrupts every area of our being, rendering living a sinless life impossible. Isaiah 64:6 says, in part, “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” before a holy God.
Many years ago, there was a particular NFL quarterback who fell victim to multiple gambling issues, which plagued him for years. Eventually he wound up doing jail time. At some point, he was told he was medically diagnosed as having a gambling addiction, that it was a sickness. I remember an interview he did where, nearly in tears, he said something like, “Thank God! I’m sick. I have an addiction. All these years I thought I was just a screw-up!”
The bad news is, he is a screw-up. We all are. We all have an addiction – to ourselves. And it can be overcome, by God’s Grace. But we can’t blame it on being “sick;” it’s our sin nature.
Mother Teresa was a respected Catholic nun who dedicated most of her life to working with the “undesirables” of India, the poorest of the poor. She didn’t do that because they were the worst of the worst, lost more than anyone else. Mother Teresa once said she went to the poor because that was her calling, but that she saw the same loneliness, the same poverty, the same desperation in the rich. “The world is suffering much,’’ she said, “because of this terrible disease- not of leprosy, not of tuberculosis, not even of hunger – but of that feeling of wanting to be wanted, to be loved, to be somebody to somebody.”
Or, as Jesus said, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17)
I fully agree with fallen man having a sin nature. But I wonder if we forget we were not created to be evil, sinful people. Humans were created to be good. That was God’s original intent for our lives.
We need to remember that God created mankind in His Own Image. Adam and Eve were more like God than anything else He created. I believe that in the original plan, humans would live forever, just as God exists forever. He had a purpose for humans, and all the people that came after the originals were created for a purpose, too.
That’s important, because Jesus said the second greatest commandment is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Well, if you don’t see yourself as lovable – if you don’t see yourself the way God created you to be - it becomes incredibly difficult to love your neighbor.
I wonder if we only love others to the extent that we love ourselves. I read one commentator who said Jesus’ second greatest command might be better understood by adding “You will” to it: “You will love your neighbor as yourself.” The feelings you have toward yourself will inevitably be projected upon others.
Now, be careful here. You do not love yourself by telling yourself how great you are, by considering yourself better than other people. That is not what humans were created to do any more than they were created to sin. Pride is a sin.
Humans were created to be in a relationship with God, but ultimately God wants us to be like Jesus. And Paul tells us in Philippians that we should have the same mindset as Jesus “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing, by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8).
If that’s my example, how can I think highly of myself? It’s easy, as a man in particular, to think being a man gives me certain rights. The society we live in says it’s all about `me,’ look at `me,’ don’t disrespect `me.’ Instead, Jesus, though he was equal with God (think of what that means, to be equal with God!), did not see that equality as something to be grasped (held on to for dear life), but willingly gave it up to become a man (actually, a helpless baby) and took on the form of a servant (the most powerful force in the universe took the abuse of the beings he created in order to save them).
So how do we know if we love ourselves? We’ll live lives that are characterized by being happy and thankful, by seeking to serve other people; lives that are not consumed with “self,” seeking what we believe will make us happy.
We live lives of joy, of gratitude, rather than being stressed or insecure or angry or in denial. We learn that we are loved by God, created for His good pleasure. We are to be what most people are not: happy, and full of life. Jesus made it possible for us to have a “full measure of (His) joy” (John 17:13). We embrace that.
If we’re not filled with joy, then chances are we’re sapping it from those around us.
The tough part of the Christian life is we’re two people. The Apostle Paul speaks of the “old self” in Romans (6:6) and of the “new creation” in 2 Corinthians (5:17). In a sense, we are no longer “homo sapiens” but have become “homo fideus” – Latin for “men of good faith.”
Through Christ we are redeemed, washed, born again, made pure and holy. This is who we are. Through faith we are made holy. We choose to deliberately focus on the new creature rather than the old. And we choose to see the good in people, the image of God, because we have come to understand it in ourselves.
If I can learn to see myself as God sees me, with lovingkindness, then I will see everyone else the same way.
