i hear people say, "i can't believe that everyone is evil or else i'll lose hope in humanity. i need to believe that people are inherently good or else we're all just hopeless messes." i believe that statement sets itself for failure and that to hope in humanity is ultimately hopeless. if we were to believe that people were inherently good, then we wouldn't be able to explain why we have crime. why we have murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, and corrupted, selfish people is anyone's best guess. people will point to psychology for answers; they will point to peoples' backgrounds and the way they were raised as excuses for the reason as to why people are as they are, but these all go full circle. because, in the end, we can't explain why some cheat on their spouses, why they lie to get ahead in their career, why they drink until they lose all control of their senses, and why we divert or distract ourselves from asking the real questions that we need answers to. we can say that people do these things because of a certain cause and the effect is that we do these horrible things, but that doesn't account for the reason why we feel the need to do these things. in this evil world, believing that everyone is good isn't an optimistic worldview that everyone should adopt. it will only make you question all the more why there are such atrocities in this world if everyone is good. it's inconsistent.
i can believe that there are some good, some bad. but we know that in this world, no one is perfect. there is no one that is wholly good and wholly bad. we can bet that there are robbers that have children that they love and care for and that the evil they do is for their childrens' good. we can bet that there are good men that raise money to help the poor, but pocket some of the proceeds for their gain. good actions for evil intentions. so there can't be just good people and bad people. you can say that we are all, individually, mixes of good and evil. so what are we then? a bunch of lukewarm people that don't know which side to take? i think we would be content to be a mix of good and evil for who are we to judge one another then? no prisons, no wrong or right because we are all a mix of good and bad, so there would be no need for justice, but something inside us compels us to do so.
i believe that everyone is evil. whether you're a kid stealing a candy bar or you're a mass murderer on death row. we all share the same common disease of sin and evil. how can i believe this? how can i have hope in this hopeless context? i have hope because of this hopelessness. there's no good news without bad news. we surely cannot appreciate or know what light is without the dark. we don't know what right is without wrong. we have this sense of rightness because of the evil inside of us and a desire, a need for something more. we need justice, we need hope. we desire a hope in this hopelessness. it is only in this context that hope is real. but that desire is not enough; there must be something tangible, something real to have hope in. there is. thank God, there is. we need forgiveness, we need redemption. we need faith. to believe in something more than what we have, than what we are. we need Jesus. we are lost in our separation and ignorance because of sin. we need to become hopeless, to come to the end of ourselves and fall into the arms of Christ. we need to.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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