No better than

For my last day at the family electrical business, I helped two of our guys replace receptacles in the bathrooms and kitchens of an apartment complex; better known as the "projects." This was not the nicest of apartment complexes but it was good work for the business. The people there could be described with many different adjectives (good and not so good): gangsters, poor, harsh, drug dealers, hypocrites, ungrateful, nasty, clean, appreciative, struggling, lazy, and more. 

We observed drug deals going down. We worked in some clean apartments, and some really nasty ones. The maintenance man said some of the worst tenants were the ones who paid as little as $1 per month in rent. $1! That's nuts. And many times they got a couple of months late, saying they didn't have any money because of ... (whatever excuses). The other one who gave him problems was the one with the religious symbols and posters everywhere. How sad, but not surprising.

After we finished, we packed up and headed home. Later I got to thinking about our experience there, and I felt all sorts of emotions, ranging from sadness to annoyance. Then, the reality of it all came to mind. No matter how terrible some of those people are, I am no better than any of them.

Just because I live in a nice home, in a nice community, and dress differently than many of them, that doesn't make me any better. Despite the good things I have tried to do in my life, I have also done MANY sinful things: I have lied, cheated, stolen, disobeyed God, dishonored His name, and committed all sorts of sinful acts.

Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village church in Texas, preached a sermon one time and said how none of us in any better than another, stating (paraphrase) "whether your mama gave birth to you in the church on the alter or in a bar." He's right. In our society, we like to judge people by their appearance, social status, etc. God doesn't have the same standard.

Romans 3:9-20 (The Message) makes this point very well.

We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat

So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one,
    nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
    they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
    I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
    They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
    litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
    They never give God the time of day.

This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin.

Were it not for Christ, we would all be doomed. At our worst, Christ died for us. "While we were yet sinners." Christ's love is unconditional. Sin put us all on the same playing field. Had he not died, none of us would have a chance at any sense of life and purpose.

The Jews of Jesus' time hated the fact that Paul was preaching a message of hope and forgiveness to the Gentiles. They seemed to think they were better than the Gentiles and had God's favor. The book of Romans dispelled this truth and wreaked all sorts of havoc.

I imagine things haven't change too much. Many "religious" people think that they have more favor in God's eyes than the "sinners," such as some of the people we encountered at the apartments. I have thought those same thoughts before, too. I have been judgmental of many kinds of people. Falling on my face has made me less judgmental. But sadly, I still have to give my heart daily to Christ and pray for Him to remove any pride and judgmental thoughts from me.

I know I am no better than anyone else. I don't want that to be a source of shame and insecurity, but instead a sobering reality and truth that leads to gratitude and compassion. Because of Christ, I can celebrate new life in Him. Because of Christ, I will be able to use the awful sin of my past for something good. Isn't God good?