Do you see the waterfall?

There are many Christians today who believe in justification by decency.  What I mean is they believe if they are civil with their neighbor and don't do anything (or at least, not a lot of things) that are indecent they are "okay" with God.  If asked to provide some way to measure civility they will usually say, "The Golden Rule".  And by that they are referring to the second greatest commandment given by Jesus (though they may not know they are):  Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)  If asked to define what is decent or indecent they'll say it is based upon whatever is culturally acceptable.

One pastor I spoke to recently told me that he's often posed the question to people, "If you were to stand before Jesus today and He were to ask you, 'Why should I allow you into my kingdom?', what would you say?"  The typical response is, "Because I believe Jesus died for me on the cross and I've been a pretty good person."  The response begs the question, if you've been a pretty good person then why did Jesus have to die for you on the cross?

There's an inconsistency with that response which tells me that person does not understand their true condition.  They don't understand how desperately in need they are.

Let me illustrate.  A man went paddling down a river in a canoe.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river in a life vest and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, pulled the man out of the boat and pulled him back to shore.  The paddler, soaking wet, screamed, "What did you do that for?!"

Another man went down a river in a canoe.  He was paddling for his life upstream while his canoe was sucked along by a raging current towards a towering waterfall just ahead.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river with a rope tied to a tree and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, threw the paddler the rope that saved him, and went over the waterfall himself.

Which paddler do you think was more thankful for their rescuer?  Probably the paddler who saw the waterfall ahead and knew there was nothing he could do to rescue himself.

Our sinfulness puts us each in a canoe on a river aiming straight for certain death.  When we overlook or minimize our sin we fail to recognize our precarious situation. We fail to see our desperate need for rescue.

The Bible tells many stories about people who minimized their sin.  Consider this story found in the book of Mark:

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mark 2:15-17

The Pharisees hated that Jesus ate with the "sinners" and outcasts of society.  Jesus responded that he "came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  The problem with the Pharisees wasn't that they were too religious.  It wasn't that they were too conservative either.  Their problem was that they did not recognize their own sin.  They were blind to it.  They thought they were righteous and didn't need help.  Jesus ministry was to those who needed rescue, not those who thought they were alright.  Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9).

All Christians minimize their sin to some degree.  Nobody wants to face the reality of their sin.  Yet we are called to face our sin head-on with an attitude of repentance.  I'm reminded of the story of King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered.  The prophet Nathan went to him and exposed David's sin.  When David realized what he had done he faced his sin and its consequences head-on.  He minimized his sin until Nathan tore down the walls David had built up to protect himself (2 Samuel 11-12).

Here's the danger:  when we minimize our sin, we also minimize our perceived need for Christ.  If we do not believe we need the atonement Christ provides we cannot believe in what his atonement accomplished.  And without faith in his blood that cleanses us of our sin we are not justified before God (Romans 3:25).  This is why the apostle John wrote, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:10) but if we "walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).  The light exposes sin so if we don't see our sin it's an indication there's no light shining.