TRFG - Reason 4 - Religion and the gospel

In the last lesson, we talked about how Christianity teaches that sin is the problem plaguing us individually and collectively. In this lesson, we look at the solution to our problem as explained in the Christian gospel message.

Two forms of self-centeredness

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll devises a potion by which he can separate the good-natured part of humanity from the evil. He does this in part because he believes that he can advance more in being a good person if he is not held back by his evil side. However one night, the evil Mr. Edward Hyde comes out and terrorizes London.

Seeing all the evil that he is capable of, Dr. Jekyll eventually resolves to not take the potion any more and devotes himself to charity. He “gets religion”, in a sense. It is not long after this that he is sitting on a park bench and thinking about how good of a person he is compared to others around him

I resolved in my future conduct to redeem the past; and I can say with honesty that my resolve was fruitful of some good. …[I]n the last months of the last year, I labored to relieve suffering; … much was done for others, and … the days passed quietly, almost happily for myself. … But I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for license. …

I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin. After all, I reflected, I was like my neighbors; and then I smiled, comparing myself with other men, comparing my active good-will with the lazy cruelty of their neglect. And at the very moment of that vain-glorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering. … I looked down…. I was once more Edward Hyde.

Unable to control his transformation to Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll’s world collapses and he destroys his life.

I bring up this story because when most people think of a person being self-centered, they imagine someone like Mr. Hyde. They picture a person who maliciously uses people to get ahead, or who hurts others with his words ands actions. That is, a person who breaks all the rules. However, this is not the only way to be self-centered. The other form of self-centeredness is keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous. A person can appear to be extremely charitable and still be wrapped up in himself. When someone builds his identity on being moral, this leads him to a sense of superiority when others fail to attain to his moral standard.

This is what happened to Dr. Jekyll at the end of the story. He built his identity on his ability to keep a certain moral code. Then in the middle of meditating on how wonderfully he has performed, Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde.

Religion vs grace

There is a big difference between the understanding that God saves us based on our own effort and the understanding that God saves us solely because of what Jesus has done. We will contrast these two points of view as “religion” vs “grace”. In this sense, religion is the thought process “I obey and therefore I am accepted by God.” People holding this view are similar to the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Grace on the other hand says “I have been accepted by God and therefore I obey.” Two people attending the same church can do many of the same things outwardly (e.g. give to the poor, pray, be faithful to their family, etc.) while holding different views in this regard. The final result however will be radically different.

The danger of legalism

Why is Pharisaic legalism so damaging? Recall from the last lesson how we said that whenever we build our identity on anything apart from God, it is unstable and will ultimately collapse. If we build our identity on our own moral virtue, then we will be extremely proud when we are meeting our own expectations but be equally distraught and self-loathing when we fail. We will also look down on those who do not attain to the same level of morality as we do. This is exactly the pattern followed by Dr. Jekyll. While he was able to “clean up his act” and excel morally even compared to those around him, when faced with his inability to control the evil within himself, his world collapsed and he ended his life.

Dangerous grace

Sometimes when people hear the true Christian gospel message for the first time, they are scared by the demands that it makes. Consider the interaction between Jesus and the rich man in Mark 10:17-31. Jesus tells the man that all he needs to do to gain eternal life is follow him and give up the other things he has put his hope in (wealth and possessions). Why is grace dangerous? When we are saved completely by the grace of God, we are bound to serve him. Somehow God has even more say over our lives because we haven’t earned any favor with him. Our entire standing with him is based on his generosity. There is nothing that God cannot ask us to do since he has done everything in saving us.

From the outside, this sounds like terrible bondage. But when you have really experienced the grace of God, it is liberating and leads to a life full of joy and excitement. It is similar to the young man deeply in love. When he is in love, the young man might do any number of crazy things for sake of his beloved. From the outside, it looks like she has him wrapped around her finger, but from his point of view, he is thrilled to be doing exactly what pleases her. In the same way, someone who has been gripped by the grace of God does not begrudgingly do the things God has commanded as someone submitting to a harsh dictator. Instead, he rejoices to do the things that please his Heavenly Father because he is motivated by love.

We have said that the Christian gospel message centers on God’s grace shown to us through Jesus. In the next couple lessons, we will talk more specifically about what Jesus has done for us.

Questions

Question 1 Read the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Explain where we see both licentiousness and Pharisaic moralism in this story.

Question 2 Continuing the discussion on the prodigal son, explain how the father’s interaction with the younger, licentious son provides us a picture of the gospel.

Question 3 Explain how the father’s interaction with the older son provides us a picture of the gospel.

Question 4 Which of the two brothers do you have a tendency to act like? How does the Christian gospel correct this way of thinking?