Mar 12/13 - 05 - Romans 3:23

For everyone has sinned;

we all fall short of

God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23

Bible Rank: 5

One of the 20th Century's greatest theologians wasn't a pastor. He wasn't trained in seminaries. G. K. Chesterton was a simple churchgoer. His profession? He was writer. He was an acclaimed essayist, regularly tackling the foibles culture and the destructive lies hidden in the rhetoric of culture's evolving philosophies.

Chesterton was also one of the 20th Century's first great mystery writers! (Father Brown was his famous amateur detective.)

Think for a minute what it takes to be a great mystery writer! You have to understand the human heart! You must be able to comprehend the motives that could lead an ordinary person to commit the most dastardly of crimes.

Mysteries flow out of a thoroughly Christian worldview. The world says, "people are basically good." Chesterton reminds us, however, "No man's really any good till he knows how bad he is, or might be..."

Scripture says, "We all sin and fall short of God's glorious standard." We hurt each other  We lie and cheat and steal. We covet and want. We fudge on the truth and fudge on our taxes. We may not be worthy of a famous mystery novel, killing anyone with a gun, but we kill one another with our words and actions. We destroy with what we've done and what we left undone. We cause pain through our thoughts, words, and deeds.

And we hurt ourselves too. Shame hurts us. Guilt haunts us. Most of us are living with a dissonances along the fault lines of our character, robbing of peace and joy. Why? "Because we all sin and fall short of God's glorious standard."

We lie to ourselves. "We're good people." Then we act proud and condescending. Hypocrites. Pharisees.

Chesterton says, "No man's really any good till he knows how bad he is, or might be..." Why?

·       Because then we can make sense of the contradictions in our own hearts.

·       Because then we can quit acting hypocritical toward others.

·       Because then we can begin to actually deal with the faults in our character, arresting our sin and helping ourselves and others live more fully.

·       And most of all ... because then -- maybe -- we'll finally admit that we need a Savior. And we'll finally come to him and live.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who knows his sins,

weaknesses and fault lines

(How about you?)