The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, September 3rd: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

EVIL COMES FROM WITHIN

The prevailing attitude in our modern era is that mankind is basically good, although on rare occasion he is capable of doing something wicked. (See historical anomalies: Jack the Ripper, Hitler, Osama bin Laden, etc.)

The Judeo-Christian view, on the other hand, is that mankind is basically sinful, although on rare occasion he is capable of doing something good. (See historical anomalies: Saint Francis, Mother Teresa, my mom, etc.)

The modern view claims that evil behavior is the result of evil social structures, such as poverty, racism, sexism, etc. If someone commits a crime, society is really responsible because those destructive external forces compelled the person to do the dastardly deed. You may have noticed that this view has made a mockery of our criminal justice system in the last few decades as the concept of personal responsibility has been all but thrown out of court.

The traditional religious view claims that evil behavior originates from within individual human hearts. When a crime is committed, the individual law-breaker is responsible. God gives all people free will, therefore good and evil actions are individual choices. Evil conduct cannot be blamed on outside forces.

Modern thinkers rejects the biblical doctrine of sin and mankind’s innate depravity, and see no need for society to have strong moral restraints to keep personal sin from running rampant and undermining the social order. The emphasis these days is always on political and economic issues, not personal behavior issues. You can get people to take to the streets in an instant to protest against government policies or big corporations. But how much success do you think you’d have trying to organize a protest against people who are often drunk, or against men who get women pregnant but have no interest in raising their own offspring?

If you were able to organize a protest against excessive drinking or irresponsible parenting, the media and their cronies in the bleeding heart activist industry would have a field day condemning “religious Puritans” for imposing their intolerant values on the rest of society. It’s not that the modernists are in favor of alcohol abuse and bad parenting (at least I hope not), it’s just that they are convinced the source of the problem is societal rather than individual, which means the solution must come from government programs rather than personal initiative.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize this modern view has failed miserably over the past four decades. An incredible sum of money has been pumped into social programs since the creation of LBJ’s welfare state, and poverty statistics have done nothing but rise since that time. It used to be that poverty was defined by a lack of money; now it is defined by a lack of civilization. Poor inner-city areas used to be run-down and gritty; now they are Hell on earth with swarming packs of marauding barbarians.

We are losing the war because we have misidentified the enemy. In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus clearly explains where evil originates. He said, “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within.”

As long as we continue to deny this plain truth—that evil comes from individual hearts rather than external social structures—we will continue to face two overwhelming problems. The first problem is worldly, concerning the society we live in here on earth. If we keep misplacing the blame for evil behavior and keep ignoring personal responsibility, our social fabric will continue to unravel. Ask any school teacher what it is like these days trying to control a classroom where half the kids (or more) come from dysfunctional, broken homes. And just wait till these kids grow up and breed a new generation of moral nihilists.

The second problem is other-worldly, concerning the fate of our eternal souls. When we deny the idea of personal sin, we eliminate the need for a personal savior. If we are not sinners, then we don’t need Jesus to forgive us of our sins.

Only when we clearly see our own sinfulness—only when we realized we are incapable of saving ourselves—will we humbly fall on our knees and ask God for mercy. Only then, when we admit we are powerless over sin and put our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, we will be able to enter into His heavenly kingdom for all eternity. (Heaven is filled with saints who know they are sinners; Hell is filled with sinners who think they are saints.)

It is always two-for-the-price-of-one: if we put our faith in Jesus, we experience a little bit of Heaven on earth during our natural lives, and afterward, we receive eternal life in Heaven. But if we reject Jesus, we experience Hell on earth during our natural lives, and afterward, the real thing.

The choice is ours. If we make the wrong decision, we can’t blame poverty or racism or sexism or any other “ism.” (In God’s eyes, those are “the dog ate my homework” kind of excuses.) But if we take personal responsibility and admit we are sinful, God will forgive us and save our souls. Please don’t make the wrong choice.

©2006