Americans do not want...
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Americans do not want to hear much about sin. Life is about self-fulfillment (see Charles Sykes, A Nation of Victims). The way we look at life in the twenty-first century is still like famed social commentator Christopher Lasch once wrote: "... the overriding spiritual preoccupation is... 'self-esteem...' Most of our spiritual energy is devoted precisely to a campaign against shame and guilt, the object of which is to make people 'feel good about themselves' " (The Revolt of the Elites, p. 16).
But in fact an awareness of our sin has some very good consequences. It levels the playing field among people, makes us more tolerable because as sinners we are no better than the worst, most difficult people we know. As Martin Luther put it: "Therefore if anyone looks down on another man as a sinner, sin still rules him doubly. For since he himself is sinner, he compares himself as a righteous man to the other person and thus makes himself a liar and does not realize as a sinner that he is a sinner" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 301).
An awareness of sin enhances spirituality, is what it takes in order to appreciate what God has done for us and how badly we need him. If you do not know you are sick you will not go to the doctor (see Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 142). Seventeenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal expresses a similar point: "Those who have known God without knowing their own wretchedness have not glorified him but themselves" (Pensees, p. 86).
Prominent German theologian Helmut Theilicke offers an excellent summation of the previous observations: "To incur guilt is really only the second worst, the very worst is not to be able to feel guilt anymore" (Nihilism, p. 148).
But in fact an awareness of our sin has some very good consequences. It levels the playing field among people, makes us more tolerable because as sinners we are no better than the worst, most difficult people we know. As Martin Luther put it: "Therefore if anyone looks down on another man as a sinner, sin still rules him doubly. For since he himself is sinner, he compares himself as a righteous man to the other person and thus makes himself a liar and does not realize as a sinner that he is a sinner" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 301).
An awareness of sin enhances spirituality, is what it takes in order to appreciate what God has done for us and how badly we need him. If you do not know you are sick you will not go to the doctor (see Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 142). Seventeenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal expresses a similar point: "Those who have known God without knowing their own wretchedness have not glorified him but themselves" (Pensees, p. 86).
Prominent German theologian Helmut Theilicke offers an excellent summation of the previous observations: "To incur guilt is really only the second worst, the very worst is not to be able to feel guilt anymore" (Nihilism, p. 148).
