Soccer fans around the world have been glued to their television sets this past month. They’ve been watching Europe’s soccer powerhouses battle each other in the Euro Cup tournament. As always, this year’s tournament has provided a number of upsets. Countries thought to be fielding less talented teams have beaten teams packed with superstars. It just goes to show that what makes for a good soccer team is more than power, finesse, and speed. A good team is one that consistently executes the fundamentals of passing and receiving the ball and hustles to create opportunities for scoring not relying on one or two players to get the job done.
It isn’t difficult to define what a good soccer team is but have you ever considered what a “good” Christian is? A “good” Christian, as the Bible defines it, might surprise you. Let’s find out what a “good” Christian is and ask the Holy Spirit to mold us into such people.
We’ll take our definition for a “good” Christian from the Apostle Paul. Paul doesn’t so much define what a “good” Christian is as he does model it when he wrote to the believers in Rome: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:15, 17-19, 22-24a)
Are you surprised to hear one of the greatest Christians admit that he continued to struggle with sin after his conversion? It isn’t that Paul fell into sin “once in a while”; he was constantly sinning, doing that which he knew to be wrong and failing to do that which he knew to be good.
Can you relate to Paul’s struggle? Have you ever woken up on a Saturday morning and said: “Alright. This is the day. I’m going to clean my room without being asked. I’m going to let my brother play with my Gameboy as long as he wants. And I’ll smile when Mom asks me to take out the garbage.” In short, you resolve to live like a Christian. But do you even make it to the breakfast table without impatiently kicking the dog for being in your way, or shoving your sister so you can get to the cereal boxes first? Parents, have you ever made an early-morning promise to be patient with your children the whole day only to lose it with them over a little spilled milk at breakfast? Have you ever determined not to speed on the way to work or talk about a co-worker behind her back only to commit these sins without batting an eye?
If you struggle with sin as Paul did, don’t despair. In fact you may be a “good” Christian. Really? Yes! A “good” Christian struggles with sin. But I thought “good” Christians were like Ned Flanders – always cheerful, never mean, ever forgiving. Oh, we may look like that to each other. You may think, for example, that the pastor and his family always say “please” and “thank you” and whistle a merry tune when we’re cleaning up after one another, but then again you didn’t go camping with us last week. The good I wanted to do, I didn’t do. I lost my patience. I thought about my comfort ahead of the comfort of my wife and children. I got annoyed when the girls didn’t want to do the activities I suggested for fun. Yes, I wondered how I could call myself a Christian much less a pastor.
Why are we this way? We are this way because we carry in us the sinful nature in which there is nothing good, explains Paul. The sinful nature always wants us to do the opposite of what God wants. The only reason a Christian ever manages to do anything remotely good is because at baptism God gave us a new nature – the part of us that now wants to do God’s will. The two are at war within us – like those comic characters Spy vs. Spy. The new nature will spend an afternoon stringing lights on our heart to show others God’s love but just as he is about to flip the switch the sinful nature will cut through the power cord making a mockery of the afternoon efforts.
So how can we ever consider ourselves “good” Christians if we keep sinning? Although we will never stop sinning this side of heaven, a “good” Christian will never stop struggling, that is, wrestling with the sinful nature. Notice how Paul did not say: “The good I want to do I don’t do…oh well.” Neither will “good” Christians today say things like: “Yeah I’m grouchy and touchy. What do you expect when you have to live and work with the people I do.” No, a “good” Christian hates his sin and will humbly repent of any outburst no matter what the cause. And he will keep fighting against the sinful nature so he doesn’t fall into that sin again. The only way to fight against the sinful nature is to starve it. We starve the sinful nature when we do things like turn off the TV or the computer when smut appears on screen. At the same time we’ll want to feed the new nature by studying God’s Word and regularly receiving the Sacrament so that we will want to do God’s will more than the sinful nature’s will.
But go ahead, do these things. You still won’t be able to kill off the sinful nature. He’ll always be right there pushing you to do the opposite of what God wants and it will be frustrating. It was so frustrating for Paul that he cried out: “24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) As a “good” Christian Paul knew that he needed rescuing. He knew that there was no chance of his getting into heaven on his own – not just because of his past when he persecuted Christians but because of his present. On his journeys with Luke, Silas and others he must have snapped at them. He must have cursed those who persecuted him instead of praying for them.
Still Paul was a “good” Christian. Why? Because he not only continued to struggle with sin he continued to stand with Christ. When Paul asked: “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24b) he answered his own question like this: “25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a) It’s only because of Jesus that God considers us “good.” For through Jesus we have forgiveness. Although our sinful nature had taken us captive and was well on its way to delivering us to hell, Jesus rescued us. He did this not by busting us out of prison but by serving our sentence. He walked into sin’s dungeon and said: “Heavenly Father, punish me for their sins. Let them go free while I suffer in their cells.” Jesus served our time when he hung on the cross to pay for our sins.
So it’s only through Jesus that we’ll ever make it to heaven. A “good” Christian understands this. He doesn’t think that he’s going to heaven because he’s been a good parent or a valued neighbour. No, he despairs of himself and throws himself on Jesus.
Friends, are you a “good” Christian? If you’re satisfied with your spiritual life like the self-righteous Pharisees often were, I can tell you that you’re not a “good” Christian. A “good” Christian does not say: “How good am I,” but “How wretchedly sinful I am.” If we don’t think we struggle with sin, it’s because we don’t understand what God says is a sin. If not, it’s time to get back into his Word. Find out what God says about sex outside of marriage, or downloading music we haven’t paid for, or taking medication that hasn’t been prescribed for us, or grumbling about our meals. He hates all these things.
On the other hand if you don’t think you’ll ever make it to heaven because of your sins, then remember what makes a Christian “good.” What makes us good is not the life we’ve lived but the life Christ lived for us. God the Father has given us credit for Jesus’ perfect life and through him has forgiven all our sins. So you’re not just good; you’re perfect in God’s eyes! Keep standing with Jesus through faith and you’ll keep struggling against your sinful nature. That’s what makes for a “good” Christian. Amen.
