Church of the Hills

The second of Bonhoeffer's principles for moving from selfishness towards selflessness in our churches deals with how we view ourself and how we see others. A healthy, scriptural view of ourselves is one that sees ourself as "the worst sinner in the church".  How can this be?

In his excellent little book, "Living the Cross Centered Life", C. J. Mahaney is right on target with this concept...

  "Every one of us can honestly claim the title "worst of sinners"; it isn't specifically  reserved for the Adolph Hitlers of the world.  "We may justly condemn ourselves as the greatest sinners we know," writes William Law, "because we know more of the folly of our own heart than we do of other people's."

  So admit it:  You're the worst sinner you know.  Admit you're unworthy and deserve to be condemned 

  But don't stop there! Move on to rejoicing in the Savior who came to save the worst sinners.  Lay down the luggage of condemnation and kneel in worship at the feet of Him who bore your sins.  Cry tears of amazement."  pp.129-130

Someone might object to such a view of ourselves.  Does not such talk encourage low self-esteem?  The Apostle Paul did not seem to worry about us thinking to lowly of ourselves.  In fact, he wrote to the Romans...

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement..." 12:3

Certainly, there are those who have been beaten down emotionally to a point of questioning their self-worth.  But the cure for such feelings is not a denial of our own sinfulness, but finding our true identity in Christ. 

Timothy Keller writes... "The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less."

So, what would our communities look like and feel like if we all adopted such an attitude?  What would happen if we looked upon others with more and more grace, instead of holding them to a harsher and harsher judgement?  What if, instead of being so quick to find the faults in others, I was more diligent in addressing the sin in my own life.

Lord, let it begin with me.

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