Philip Gulley tells the story of his debates in Grade 6 with his best friend Joe. Philip was a Catholic and Joe was a Jehovah’s Witness. Each tried to convince the other that they were wrong. While Gulley would go on to abandon his beliefs in God, he would often think about Joe and reflect on their playground arguments. And he concluded that their attempts to convince each other of right and wrong were misguided. He longs for a world where we don’t “concern ourselves with the perceived errors and heresies of others.” Something about his story and his conclusion ring true, but are they? Are we too uptight about discerning what’s true? Should we just focus on being better people? I’m not convinced that kindness and goodness can flourish apart from the truth. Here’s why.
No matter what your religious background is, you should be at least a little outraged at the message that a child’s presents somehow correlate with their moral behaviour. As others have pointed out, the presents that children receive mostly reflect the relative wealth of their parents, not whether they’re on some list of morally superior children.
When people say that they think they’ll go to heaven because they’re a good person, not only do they think they can define what good is, but they assume they know how good is good enough.
An unchristian message about discipleship or the Christian life is one where our effort is the only solution to the problem. It’s the message that says, “Be a good person” and “Just try harder.” Or worse yet, “You’re a terrible person; look how bad you are.” These messages create Pharisees, not Christians. So how do you avoid teaching an unchristian message from the Bible? Let me offer four questions to ask any time you prepare a talk whether it’s for a youth group, a Sunday School class, or even your own kids.
What do you do when your child has disobeyed you or broken your rules? The temptation is to play the part of a sentencing judge. Lying to your sister? Go to your room! Stayed out too late? You’re grounded. If all we do is hand out sentences and demand obedience, there is no good news in our parenting.
If you want to avoid becoming self-righteous, you need to read the Bible through two lenses.
