Surveying Scripture, it is an immense comfort to know we’re not alone in our sinfulness.
I can’t stand myself sometimes. I fall short of my standards for life every single darn day. I’m not the husband I want to be. I’m not the father I want to be. I’m not the employee I want to be. I’m not the human I want to be. I am the very definition of a fallen man. As Louie CK once said in a bit about how terrible he becomes behind the wheel: “Most people are okay, as long as they’re okay. But put them in a certain context, and they just change. Like, when I’m in my car I have a different set of values. I am the worst person I can be behind the wheel.” After sharing numerous examples of him saying the most awful things about his fellow drivers who mildly inconvenience him, the comic concludes, “I mean, what am I capable of? I like to think I’m a nice person, but I don’t know man.” Well, I know man: You’re experiencing the self-offense of what it is to be a human with ideals that constantly fails to live up to them. In other words, you’re an average, run of the mill sinner.
Surveying Scripture, it is an immense comfort to know we’re not alone in our sinfulness. Consider David, the man after God’s own heart who nonetheless commits grievous transgressions against his God, his people, and himself. Or, if you prefer the New Testament, look at the lives of Peter and Paul who – though they were great saints – were also great sinners with lots of “self-offense.” What do their lives tell us about getting over our own self-offenses?
Confrontation, Contrition and Confession
Just because our heroes in the faith were sinners too does not mean we minimize or ignore our own sin. Far from it! We are called to be the most brazenly honest about our failures. Of course, our natural tendency is to avoid confrontation, make rationalizations, and skirt accountability at all costs. If we could, our natural instinct would be to pin all our problems on someone else and walk away. Nevertheless, a very cursory reading through the lives of David, Paul, and Peter will instantly show you that “the only way out is through.” Consider the words of David in Psalm 51 after being implicated for adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband: For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment (vs. 3-4). Or take the guttural lament of the long time Christian Apostle Paul in Romans 7: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (vs. 14-15). And who could possibly forget the brutal response of Saint Peter, who after rejecting our bloodied and beaten Lord three times weeps bitterly, seemingly believing he had lost favor with God possibly forever.
Throughout their lives, all these men were confronted with the fact that though God had shown his favor and redeemed them, they were still sinners that needed to daily embrace contrition, confessing their ongoing need for forgiveness and empowerment by God. The same will always be true for us. But, right when that happens, it is imperative that we move to the next step:
Consolation in Christ
We are called to set aside our “self-offense” and trust that Christ really has paid for it all on the cross. Period. We see this pattern time and time again. Like the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14, David is reduced to pleading for mercy from his Lord. Peter, initially prone to hiding from Jesus, eventually is restored by grace. After bemoaning his ongoing battle with stubborn sins, Paul finally cries out in Romans 7: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vs. 24-25). This all crescendos in the very next verse which triumphantly declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2). And here’s one of the great things about this way of life; it makes us more compassionate toward others.
Compassion Towards Others
How could we not be? We who are daily forgiven so much, how could we possibly look down on others as if their particular sins are uniquely evil? No, “all have fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24-25). That is our hope every day, from now until the end of our lives. And it is the message that each of us is called to bring to a world that desperately needs to know there’s somewhere they can go to get over their “self-offense.”
