Recently there was an episode of tragic
violence in a community near where I live.
A student chose to bring a gun to school and start shooting. He shot five students and killed three of
them.
It has been interesting to see how people
have responded to these terrible events.
There were some who lauded the shooter, praising him for standing up to
the bullies of the world. Many grieved
for both the shooter and those he shot. Listening
to the radio in the days after the shooting there were many discussion and
comments related to the violence. One of
those comments that took me by surprise was something like this, “When things
like this happen it makes people doubt the basic goodness of man. These kids will be scarred and doubt that
people are inherently good.”
Uhhhhhh.
What? People are inherently good? Really?
The scriptures clearly delineate between two
kinds of people in the world: the wicked
and the righteous. It’s also clear that
all people sin and fall into the camp of being wicked unless they have been
redeemed through faith in Jesus, who was crucified to pay for our sins, rose,
and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Righteousness is something that is given to
us by God’s grace through faith in Jesus through the Means of Grace (the Word,
Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper).
The first four verses of this psalm describe
a person who does not have faith in Christ.
There is nothing inherently good about a person. In fact, it is only by the Holy Spirit’s
intervention and inspiration that we begin to do things that are good.
Oh, sure, non-believers do things that are “good”
in the world’s estimation. They obey
laws and behave kindly, morally, generously, and the like. This is because God has written His Law on
everyone’s heart, and we call this kind of goodness, “civic righteousness.” Most religions agree on basic moral matters,
and that is because God created us with a basic understanding of the Law. But without faith in Jesus everything a
person does is tainted by sin, and the taint is enough for God to reject it as
wickedness.
Teaching kids (or anyone for that matter)
that people are inherently good does them a great disservice. We must all understand the evil that haunts
our hearts and hunts our souls to make sense of the terrible things that take
place in the world. Indeed, as
Christians we want to understand these things so that we remain humble and
overcome them through the incredible salvation we receive in Jesus by
faith.
So what is our hope if people are inherently
evil? What good is there in life?
There is God.
His steadfast love is higher than the heavens. His righteousness, the righteousness that He
imparts to us for Jesus’ sake, is majestic like the mountain tops. His judgments are deep and profound. Read again vs. 7-10, “How precious is your
steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of
your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink
from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your
light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!” (ESV) He is our hope. It is not just that the evil fall to their
own devices, but God thrusts them down and holds them down as He acts on behalf
of His people and saves us.
O God, in this world of wicked people You are my savior. Help me trust in You and overcome in
Christ. Use me to display Your
righteousness by showing me to be a forgiven sinner. Amen.
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