The teaching highlights that evaluating one's goodness must be done by comparing it to God, revealing that even outwardly righteous actions may conceal inner flaws such as envy, greed, and violence. Furthermore, it suggests that true character is exposed under pressure, akin to the "veneer of civilization" being stripped away, as exemplified by situational behaviors during the Vietnam War, prompting self-reflection on personal courage and morality.
Understanding the reality of our hearts is essential; while we may not inherently be good, we are deeply valued and loved by God, evidenced by His sacrifice. To live authentically and improve our lives, we must confront our true selves and seek transformation and forgiveness from God for a renewed heart.
Understanding Goodness
Welcome to Christian Archy today. I want to briefly talk about a concept and ask yourself right now: Are you good? Are you a good person? Do you have a good heart? Are you a good guy or a good girl? Just ask yourself that question and try to be really honest with your answer. Then you kind of have to say, as compared to what? When you ask that question, am I good compared to my neighbor? Well, yeah. Am I good compared to this? Yeah. So, when we ask ourselves, we have to say: as compared to what?
What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Christians often say, "You're not good; there's nothing good in you." Biblically speaking and comparatively speaking, that's true because what they're comparing you, me, and everybody else to is God. When you make a comparison to Him, we're not good. In fact, we're pretty downright bad.
If you really give it some thought, outwardly we can appear good. We can have good manners, say yes, thank you, please, obey traffic laws, and avoid harming the neighbor's dog when it annoys us. There are a lot of things we don't do that make us look better than the other guy. But the good that the Bible talks about is a good relative to God and a good that is seated in your heart. That's the good we're trying to get to.
The Nature of Human Goodness
The thing about that goodness we like to pretend we are, and we like to say that we are, is that it doesn't really exist when the right circumstances come up. Just think about it for a second. Does your heart ever feel envy toward someone or something else? Jealousy can be okay, but can you ever be wrongfully jealous? Does your heart wish to get revenge on somebody even if they haven't harmed you? Does your heart want to harm someone you dislike or someone you're jealous of?
Do you ever feel like stealing something, and do you steal it? Do you tell lies because it's convenient for you so that you won't get in trouble? Will you gossip against somebody knowing that it's not the best thing to do and you don't want people gossiping against you, but will you gossip? It goes on and on. We can talk about lust and seeing your best friend's girlfriend who looks appealing one night—our heart is the seat for the evil that can abide in us. Greed, violence, selfishness—these are just a few.
The Veneer of Civilization
There's a documentary series on Netflix by Ken Bradshaw, who did the ones on FDR and Prohibition. He also did one on Vietnam. He says that they interviewed soldiers and one soldier mentioned that the Vietnam War revealed what he called the veneer of civilization. He explained that you could take a guy who was a Boy Scout, loved his mama, loved horses, was kind to pets, and was an Eagle Scout back in old North Carolina. You put him in the Vietnam War and surround him with certain circumstances, and that same guy is willing to kill women and children point-blank without a care.
That is where the veneer of civilization gets stripped away, and it starts to operate by what's truly in us. In any given circumstance, you can take yourself, and even if you pass the goodness factor in one area, in all probability, you'll fail miserably in another one. I don't know what those areas are in your life.
Discovering True Courage
I've discovered what they are in my life just quickly a quick anecdotal story I used to consider myself fairly courageous. I really thought I was brave in my life and I was in a high-rise building in New York City with a roommate who used to drive me nuts. I was in training to be a stockbroker and after about a week there with this guy, I could not stand him. I went out in the hall and a fire alarm went off.
A Moment of Truth
We were in a high-rise and I had always been taught by my fireman father that you have to get out of a high-rise building if there is a fire. The fire alarm went up and people were screaming that there was a fire in the building. I was halfway down the hall and could have run back to tell my roommate, who was napping, about the fire and then run down the building with everybody else. But I chose to leave him there. One reason was that I didn't like him, and two, because I was afraid I wouldn't get out. This moment revealed what truly existed in the secret dark part of my human heart.
The Reality of Our Heart
When people in Christianity talk about you not being good, it doesn't mean you can't do good things, and it doesn't mean you don't have value. In fact, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so if you believe in Him, you'll have everlasting life. He gave His son for a corrupt world. So you may not be good, but you are loved. That's the thing; we're not good, but God loves us. We're not worthless; we have value to a living God who created us.
Seeking Authenticity
The key is to get real with yourself. If you want to start enjoying life a bit more, start getting real with who you are. Begin with the heart. Start looking to see what you truly are in your heart. When you're finally able to detect how bad you can be, call out to God and say, "Give me a new heart, forgive me, make me a new woman, make me a new man," and He steps in and does it.
