Day Two: Is. 64:6 All of us have become
like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment;
all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT about
what makes Christianity unique as a religion? You might think about stuff like
the virgin birth, miracles, or the prophecies of the Old Testament, but think
about this, too:
Christianity is the only
religion that tells people how bad they are.
According to Emil Brunner,
the Swiss theologian: “All other religions spare us the ultimate humiliation of
being stripped naked and being declared bankrupt before God.” That’s pretty
strong language.
And yet it points to the
humiliating nature of Christianity. Other world religions don’t treat humanity
with such pessimism. In all other schools of thought, we have something to
bring to the table. We can strive toward God and meet Him, and in a sense, be
congratulated when we do.
Not Christianity.
In Christianity, we bring
nothing to the table. In fact, the only thing we bring to the table with God is
the sin we need to be rescued from. Perhaps that’s why, if we look back into
history, Christianity has been called the religion of women and slaves. In
cultures of the past, neither of those two groups had many rights, so it wasn’t
a far stretch for them to admit their abject need of God’s complete and total
intervention on their behalf.
The bottom line is this:
The one character flaw that has, and will continue to, keep most people from
Christ is not greed. It’s not lust. It’s not lying or stealing or killing. It’s
pride. That’s the only thing there is no room for at the foot of the cross.
PAUSE AND REFLECT
▷▷Why does pride, above all things, keep
people from Jesus?
▷▷Are you taking pride in your
spiritual achievements today?
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