Christianity is a force for good in the world
A while back I debated an atheist on the topic, ‘Is Christianity a Force for good in the world’. You can watch the debate for yourself here.
Many modern critics of the Christian faith assert that not only is the Christian message false, but that it is dangerous. It was the topic of this debate and it’s a key objection many have to the Christian faith. I plan to write a series of posts (over a period of time) where I will defend the claim that Christianity is indeed a force for good in the world.
In these posts I do not wish to defend corrupt Christianity. Over the centuries, many people claiming to be believers have not followed Jesus. Because something has been done in the ‘name’ of Christianity does not automatically render it a true expression of the Christian faith. To judge if an action is the true expression of the Christian faith, we judge against the Bible, and the Bible alone. The Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of Christian faith and conduct and a true Christian believer is someone who genuinely seeks to follow Jesus and his teachings.
Hence, here I stand defending the assertion that true, Biblical Christianity is a force for good in the world.
The Christian message is good news. Jesus says in Mark 1:15, ‘The time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news’. This is the Bible’s vision of the good - the kingdom of God! – a kingdom of justice, love and life. A kingdom which begins now with Jesus and following him, and will lead to a place where death, mourning and crying will end.
The Christian message is good news for our world. How so?
It’s good news because it diagnoses and solves the biggest problem in the world – human corruption.
The late great Christopher Hitchens was once asked the question, ‘Is man intrinsically good or bad?’ He responded emphatically, ‘Man is unquestionably evil’.
This is an uncomfortable truth, but a reality nonetheless. It’s our problem. We are selfish, lawless and ultimately evil. The Bible calls this condition, the human condition: sin – rebellion against the right and the good.
I’m not saying that people are incapable of good things or of virtuous living. But given the right opportunity, the right circumstances, people will reveal their true nature, and it’s not a pretty sight.
All people are selfish and sinful. The Bible is under no illusions to the depths of depravity possible. Jeremiah 17:9, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’ Jesus himself says that sin is a slavery, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin”. The manifold problems of our society, problems with our relationships, road rage, can be reduced to human selfishness. This is why we can never have heaven on earth.
In case you’re wondering, this isn’t the good news. Human selfishness, human evil stands as the great obstruction to the good.
The good news is that Jesus came, died for our sins, dying for our corruption putting it to death forever, ushering in the kingdom of God, so that we might be changed, we might have new life.
Romans 4:24 ‘He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification’
Christianity recognises the problem of human corruption and offers a solution. Christianity redeems and rescues people from the evil inherent in our nature and offers new life. This is the good news.
It’s a message of freedom: freedom from human corruption, freedom from evil, freedom from the Law and freedom from death. In John 8:36 Jesus says…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’. In his great, ‘I have a dream’ speech, Martin Luther King Jr. quotes the old Negro Spiritual song which captures this message,
Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I’m free at last
Surely this is good news?
The freedom offered by the Christian message was noticed by atheist journalist Matthew Parris. In a controversial article he suggested that Africa truly needs God. He says that it is the Christian faith itself which liberates the Africans from their anxiety-ridden, ancestor worshipping spiritual roots. This atheist observed that the Christian message was good news. He writes,
Christianity, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosophical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something for those too anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.
Biblical Christianity is good news because we are freed from the sinfulness of humanity. There is a solution to our biggest problem. The kingdom of God has arrived – good news indeed.
