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Are You Good?

 

There is a great ambivalence in America, even among Christians as to whether one is good or not.  Most Christians believe that human nature is basically bad, that humans tend to sin by nature.  No matter how many good deeds and intentions there are, mankind is still stained by sin.  I would say that most church denominations believe in Original Sin, that everyone inherits the curse of sin from Adam and Eve, mankind's progenitors.  There are a few churches which believe that people don't inherit sins, but they can choose to sin.  Evangelicals believe that Christ's death on the cross at Calvary for all mankind made the only way for man to be good.

 

On New Year's Day 2012, Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann spoke at Jubilee Family Church (Oskaloosa, IA).  Here is an excerpt (starting at 9:45):

 

 

 

 

  http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Osk

 

 

"There is no difference, for all have sinned. [quote from Rom 3:23]

Now, let me ask you, 'Who in this room is good?'

No one wants to go in that column?

Maybe, after last night, no one wants to admit it, right? After last night ...

All have sinned, everyone has sinned, everyone the book says falls short of the glory of God".

 

 

Now, here is a politician that is articulate about what she believes.  Sometimes, those of faith in elective office can be embarrassing on how little they know about what they believe.  Rep. Bachmann really knows how to express her faith.

 

The problem for politicians is that in order to earn votes, they need to be political.  They need to like the potential voter, compliment them, say good things about them.  Gov. Romney needed to say he likes the cookies that supporters give him, not critique them.  Some people were offended at President Carter when he gave a speech criticizing American attitudes.  This might be more at home as preaching, but some only want to hear good about themselves.  Imagine a politician saying, "My fellow Americans, we are depraved". No, this only works politically in church, not on the stump.

 

An interesting thing is found in the Declaration of Independence:

 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;

 

This is Thomas Jefferson naming the "good People" of the American colonies.  Now, perhaps he was acting as a good politician, giving complements to the public, as he similarly said of the people of the colony of Virginia.  But did you know that Thomas Jefferson was one of those who believe that mankind is basically good?

 

Jefferson and other American founders admired John Locke.  Locke was one who didn't believe the Christian belief of 'original sin'.  Locke believed that people were born without sin, and that careful training and laws could avoid sin.  Yet some authors say that Locke also believed only Jesus could deal with the sin of mankind.

 

It's good to get a balanced view of the founders.  Some were more orthodox in their beliefs such as Patrick Henry. Others were more liberal and unorthodox, such as Benjamin Franklin.  A few Christian authors take several quotes from men such as Washington and Jefferson to show they were biblical Christians.  Yet, there are other quotes which put them in an unorthodox light.  These same authors might also be selective with more current presidents, rather than get the whole story.

 

Publisher pulls Jefferson book over inaccuracies - TODAY Show

 

Early American Presidents were willing to confess sin on behalf of America.  Imagine that today, where apology is equated with being unpatriotic.

 

President Washington, during a thanksgiving proclamation, as if in prayer, asked that the people of the US would unite and "beseech Him [the great Lord and Ruler of Nations] to pardon our national and other transgressions".

 

President Adams, in a thanksgiving proclamation, asked God for "His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all out offences, and to incline us by His Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation. He also asked Americans to seek God's help to "arrest the progress of that impiety and licentiousness".

 

Adams also believed that iniquity in America could cause adverse outcomes in war with the British.  He wrote, "I have seen all my life such selfishness and littleness even in New England, that I sometimes tremble to think that, although we are engaged in the best cause that ever employed the human heart, yet the prospect of success is doubtful not for want of power or wisdom but of virtue".  Adams, like Jefferson, did not believe in "original sin", but they saw sin as a moral problem.  Moral education was a solution.  To get God's favor, America needed to be moral.  Leaders needed to be moral.

 

Thomas Jefferson said that "the legitimate Power of civil Government extends no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor".  Jefferson's "limited government" was because man in government can be sinful, or was it because man is not all that bad [because Jefferson's belief that man is basically good] to need regulation?

 

James Madison said, If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.  Madison used the term, 'checks and balances', to refer to one group's self-interests being counter balanced by another group's.  Each group is not completely unselfish, altruistic, and non-biased.  It is working with human nature, assuming it's not perfect.

 

There is a reaction among some to idealize the founders.  These people talk about 'original intent', that the constitution is sacred, and bringing America back to the Christian beginnings of many of the early settlers.  However, early settlers were also sinful, as the Presidents above mentioned.  Most of the early citizens were not church goers.  Many writers show that early American immigrants such as the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and other religious non-conformists were Christian.  Thus, America was founded as a Christian nation.  Yet, they talk about the tyranny from another Christian nation, England.  Which talks louder, one's heritage or one's actions?

 

Adam Smith's economic theories are another source of the ideal.  This ideal assumed that by reducing regulation in trade, economic prosperity would flourish.  Some people also mention that since man was made in the image of God, and man like God is creative, then man should be free to create, without restraint.  What they forget is that man's image of God is marred by sin.  The 'freedom' that those on the Right proclaim seems to assume man is good.  Freedom without restraint by another name could be called, "lawlessness".

 

Actually, Adam Smith believed business people were driven by greed and self interest.  But this self interest aided productivity and efficiency, like an "invisible hand" creating prosperity in the end.  This meant the inefficient would not last.  This also meant that the frauds could exist, but it is assumed they would be driven out of business when word got around.  Unfortunately, fly-by-nighters still come and go.  Bank frauds have recently had lasting ability over the years.

 

The bible does put such things as thrift, productiveness, and efficiency in a good light.  However, the bible says, "Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD" (Prov. 20:23).   Does this sound like God is against regulation of business?

 

Does wanting less regulation assume that man is not all that bad?  Those who are against government regulation say their opponents are for 'the nanny state', are meddling, and whistle blowers are as bad as tattlers.  It sounds like a bully's argument.

 

Well, is man basically good?  For clues, look at the Holocaust, terrorism, and crime.  For those who think man is evolving and progressing through education, then look at malware programs, and techno crime such as stolen IDs.  For those who pretend that man is basically good, how about leaving your doors unlocked?

 

The Holocaust is a stark example.  In spite of that example, Anne Frank, kept hope in mankind:

 

“I believe that even bad people are truly good at heart.”  (Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl)

 

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”

(Anne Frank)

 

To be positive and optimistic in the face of such danger and evil seems heroic.  Yet, though it's good to be forgiving, God's perspective is different.  On a horizontal, person to person level, one might affirm a good act of another.  However, God knows everything about everybody, and he gives only one hope for mankind - through the person of Jesus Christ.

 

 

No matter whether one is rich or poor, smart or unintelligent, cultural or unsophisticated, all people are sinful. Christians only derive goodness from God.  Though the bible mentions Noah, Job, and others as upright or righteous, this is not just because they were relatively good.  It was because they obeyed God, and their sin sacrifices covered their sins.  The cross symbolizes the sin sacrifice for believers today.

 

People assume that since the rich are blessed materially, they are more righteous.  So, they should be allowed the freedom to do as they please.  Their rewards have earned them the right of freedom.  It's the "honor system". Without oversight and accountability, human nature does create instances of license and sin.  Success doesn't necessarily come to only the moral.  There are worldly ways to success, and Christians can get caught up in that, too.

 

Actually, regulation can increase efficiency and prosperity.  One who has driven after a storm has hit may come on an intersection where the electricity is out, and the traffic lights aren't working.   This crossroads, then, becomes a four-way stop.  Traffic slows to a crawl as cars wait their turn.  Government regulation is like the traffic signal that lets traffic through most efficiently.  Regulation keeps competition honest and free, and they minimize abuse and corruption.

 

Not all government regulation is wise.  Some is not well thought out, not well planned.  Throwing money at a problem can still cause hardship.  But to listen to the conservative argument of less government, one hears only the stories of government being the problem.  Christian radio host and author, James Dobson, tells only of incidences where governments do strange things, and make stupid laws.  Listeners only learn that government is bad. Much of Christian commentary on government is anti-government.  Yet in Romans 13, Paul says to be submitted to the authority of government, because God put it there to punish wrong-doing.  At the time Paul wrote this, the Roman government was pagan, not Christian.

 

There is an impression from listening to the Christian conservatives, that they believe people are basically good, they don't need government regulations.  They project the evil influences onto government.  They actually say government regulation causes much of the immorality witnessed in the news, such as business fraud.  The government scapegoat for evil influences is actually anti-Christian.  Christ is the proper scapegoat for man's sin.

 

Steve Forbes, in his book, How Capitalism Will Save Us (pp. 44-46), says that more open markets are less corrupt than markets where there is more government regulation.  He sites more bribery in the less open countries.  However, isn't it true that with less laws and regulation there would be less lawbreaking?  Marketers would get away with all sorts of fraud, without laws to protect the public.  No, this doesn't increase freedom.  It's laws that protect freedom, not lawlessness.  The 'honor system' only works if everyone is moral.

 

These Christian conservatives believe the Market (as in Mammon) is the final judge of character.  The modernist influence has molded their worldview.  Consumerism, materialism, and the American Way seems to be more important to them than The Way.  They are selective on what sin they want to regulate. Lust wins out to greed. Just as they are selective in what they want to remember about American history, they are also selective in what they remember biblically.

 

Deregulation, and privatization is the conservative ideal, with supposed increased freedom for Americans.  Experience has shown this is false.  The Enron scandal and hedge fund derivatives and the banking fiasco show how unregulated greed can be.  The conservatives ask for more freedom, put a historical and patriotic spin on it, and seem to imply that this more free America will be more moral.  Many of the founders thought the opposite: people need to be moral first.  Some of these founders sound like today's secular humanists, in emphasizing moral education.  Though this sounds good, it can also be a facade for those who believe mankind is not so bad, and for those who deny God in some way.  A moral people can be governed on the 'honor system', but who is 100% moral?

 

In case you are reading this and wonder how I get along with these Christians who think like this, I will say it takes love, discernment, discretion, forgiveness, and patience.  But I'm being outspoken to show that not all Christian believers are so wrong headed.  We are all accountable to God.  And I don't want Christians to be deluded by some of the rhetoric they hear on Christian radio and political campaigns.  Rather than just going along with the one-sided messages, only watching Fox, and being selective historically and biblically, these people need to think.  They need to check out what they read and hear, like the bereans biblically checked out what Paul said.

 

Books: more support for non-regulation, Christian Founders, etc.

 

How capitalism will save us : why free people and free markets are the best answer in today's economy / Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames

 

Faith & freedom : the Christian roots of American liberty / Benjamin Hart.

 

Saving freedom : we can stop America's slide into socialism / Jim DeMint

 

Defending the Declaration : how the Bible and Christianity influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence / Gary T. Amos.

 

Faith & freedom : the Christian roots of American liberty / Benjamin Hart

 

One Nation Under God: Ten things every Christian should know about the founding of America / David C. Gibbs, Jerry Newcombe

 

The American Myth of Religious Freedom / Kenneth R. Craycraft Jr. (about John Locke)

 

The Light In the City / Janet and Craig Parshall

 

Five Lies of the Century / David T. Moore

 

web site: http://www.lessgovisthebestgov.com/

 

 

Books: balanced views

 

Why You Think the Way You Do: The story of western worldview from Rome to home / Glenn S. Sunshine (p140-141, p152-153)

 

Quotations from Founding Faith: Steve Waldman, Random House, 2008 (p37, p70, pp163-165, p174)

 

 

Books: with more critique

 

What would Jefferson do? : a return to democracy / Thom Hartmann. [Man is basically good, but he behaves when accountable to each other like in tribal culture]

 

The Case for Big Government / Jeff Madrick

 

America declares independence / Alan Dershowitz [At least some of the founders weren't that Christian]

 

Everything must change : Jesus, global crises, and a revolution of hope / Brian D. McLaren.

 

Johnny Cash and the great American contradiction : Christianity and the battle for the soul of a nation / Rodney Clapp. (p92 - scapegoatting)

 

The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church From Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies (p153-179 - Justice - Capitalism) [Modernist influences on the church such as rapid church growth, worldly leadership techniques, consumerism and people-centered influences]

 

Books by Mark Ellingsen:

Blessed Are the Cynical (Brazos, 2003)

When Did Jesus Become A Republican? (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007)

Sin Bravely: A Joyful Alternative to a Purpose-Driven Life (Continuum, 2009)