“Us” Versus “Them”
Blog | Pastor Duane Smets
“So many people are so twisted and sick.” “I can’t stand it when people ____________.” “No one thinks about ____________.” These are common phrases in our world and workplaces as people talk about one another and things and people they don’t like.
You would expect Christians to have a different demeanor as those who have been touched by the grace of Jesus but more often than not such language is heightened and emphasized in churches and contexts where Christians are encouraged to see themselves as the good guys and those who are not Christians as the bad guys. In this “us versus them” combat mentality Christians act as though the church and its people are pure and it’s the people “out there” who are impure and have the sin problem.
Even more surprising is how Christians (brothers and sisters of Jesus) treat one another when the sin of one in the family is brought to light. If a person opens up about their struggle with sin, very often Christians will look down on them as somehow being a less than Christian who has not yet achieved the high spiritual state and status of others who conceive that they do no have any indwelling sins or struggles.
Now, to be sure. As Christians, we are called by Jesus to be “in the world” but “not of the world” (Jn 17:14-16). So there is a difference and a distinction to be understood and cherished. The good news of the gospel opens up a hope and a home to us which is far greater than any temporal and damaging pleasure the home of this world can offer. However, this does not mean a Christian is without sin and no longer in need of the gospel to work in them because they have come to profess faith. In fact, the Apostle John says if we as Christians say “we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 Jn 1:8).”
The gospel gives the Christian a security…we are loved and kept by God no matter what because he sent his son to die for us, even though he knew we were sinners (Rom 5:8). That gives us the freedom to open up about the sin of our hearts and to have Jesus work in us and change us, making us more like him (Rom 8:29). This is why Martin Luther said, “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ…willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Progress (aka “sanctification”) is made as a Christian through repentance. It’s where we begin to increasingly recognize how our hearts works, has bought into lies, become enslaved to sin and how the gospel counters those things and works change in us by bringing those things to light (Eph 4:13-14).
Growth as a Christian is not meant to happen individually and in isolation, no one is that strong or that good. We are meant to work through things together with God’s help. When a person genuinely, honestly, an authentically opens up about their struggle and even failure in sin…if we berate them and beat them up with law and not the gospel it will not only be crushing to their spirit and encourage them to simply work harder instead of being freed to enjoy Jesus and thereby not fall into sin. Grace is what changes the allegiance and actions of the heart.
Here is the kicker. The times when we find ourselves most angry or upset at another’s sin are often the same times when we are failing to see how are own hearts are looking to other Lord’s and loves, in a different yet similar way.
For example, say a Christian brother or sister fails sexually. Now I personally may not struggle with sexual sin and it would be very easily to look down on that person and feel spiritually superior because of that. Yet if I looked internally in my own heart I would likely find other pleasures and temptations I have given into (other than Jesus) in hopes that they would fulfill me, bring me pleasure, or even righteousness. For example, my day off could easily become my mistress, where I not only check out from work but from God and work all week long just to have the pleasure I get from having a day to do whatever I want. Such a thing is just as ugly and heinous as sexual sin, it just looks a lot prettier on the outside and doesn’t have as many practical or immediate ramifications.
Late theologian and Pastor Jonathan Edwards had this to say. It was the 8th personal resolution by which he endeavored to live his life (Note: He had 70 and you can read them here: RESOLUTIONS).
“Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.”
Jonathan Edwards’ advice works well both for our attitude toward our fellow Christian brothers and sisters as well as toward those who are not yet Christians. It’s a call for us to humbly, openly, and to continually put our faith in Jesus’ person and work and not in our own moral goodness. It’s a call for us to work together for the work of the gospel in our hearts, minds and lives both by confessing sin to one another and confronting one another. It’s a call for us to live a life of repentance.
All people everywhere, including ourselves, are dealing with the same thing. Sin and the need for a savior. We need someone to save us both from the just wrath we owe and from the present battles we find ourselves in. Jesus is that savior. Only his gospel enables us to admit we are far worse off than we would ever want to acknowledge and yet far more loved than we could ever think possible.
May God help us to be a community of people who are not fighting against our city and against one another but instead be a community of people who are repenting, turning to Jesus, and being changed because he is good and his gospel is at work in us.
- Pastor Duane
