Romans 1:16-17, 3:23-27a
I used to complain that any Christian portrayed on TV or in the movies was sheepish, timid, and fearful—a stammering Caspar Milquetoast type. (Caspar’s creator said he “spoke softly and was beaten with a big stick.”) Think a very “mild-mannered” Clark Kent who when he strips off his glasses, just walks into a wall. These Christians were weak, ineffectual, uncertain, and generally tepid—and just brought in for comic relief.
Now, I’d almost enjoy seeing such a Christian on the screen. Today’s onscreen Christian is brash to the point of being rude, boorish. Think Gregory House or Sue Sylvester without the charm.
The picture of such arrogant Christians implies we look down our noses at others, believing we are better than anyone else.
Well, it would be arrogant of me to suggest the charge isn’t sometimes true. Occasionally, we behave in an arrogant manner.
Before I explain, let me say that if the charge is that we are arrogant simply because we believe we are right, I have to disagree.
· It hardly seems fair to lay that charge on us if every other religion believes the same thing about itself. This invites us to investigate the truth claims, not to simply say they are all right or they are all wrong. Don’t charge us Christians with arrogance unless you plan to charge every other religious person with arrogance.
· It hardly seems fair to charge us Christians with arrogance if you are displaying your own brand of arrogance. To say Christians are arrogant because we believe we are right ignores the fact that you, apparently, believe you are right and Christians are wrong. Now, you might be right and Christians might be wrong, but the mere fact we believe we are right doesn’t make us wrong. Don’t charge us Christians with arrogance, unless you plan to charge yourself.
Still, we Christians have sometimes displayed a degree of arrogance.
Sometimes we have displayed a cultural arrogance. We have confused Western culture with the gospel. We have suggested that men and women must become western before they can be Christian. Wherever that has happened, it was a mistake.
Sometimes we have displayed a racial arrogance. We have behaved in a paternalistic manner toward those we tried to reach. We have treated grown men and women like children, refusing to allow them to take the leadership of their own churches. We have learned better.
Sometimes we have displayed a denominational arrogance. I once heard a story about an older woman who was a very committed Baptist. Her pastor once teasingly asked her, “Grandma, what will you say if Jesus comes back and he isn’t a Baptist?” The older woman answered, “I’d know it wasn’t Him.”
There is nothing wrong with being committed to our traditions and our distinctive understanding of how to do church. But we have sometimes refused to cooperate and appreciate other brothers and sisters in Christ to the degree that a watching world has wondered how we can claim to love one another.
We’ve probably been arrogant in other ways but they say confession is good for the soul, but hard on the reputation. That being so, I’ll stop confessing right now. I believe we Christians try hard to avoid the kind of arrogance I’ve mentioned. But the most important question remains, Does Christianity lead Christians to become arrogant?
Let’s consider that question…
How can we be arrogant when we say we each have a problem we cannot solve?
Paul’s statement about the comprehensive presence of sin in humanity couldn’t be clearer: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Letters from Albert Einstein have been made public which revealed something of what the famous genius thought of some religious questions. You’ve probably heard Einstein said he did not believe the Jews were a “chosen people.” Remember, this came from a man who was once offered the presidency of the newly formed nation of Israel. His remark would have surprised most Jews of Paul’s day; they were convinced they were God’s chosen people. Some—by no means all—but some of Paul’s fellow citizens would have interpreted this to mean they were a cut above the rest of humanity. Their arrogance prompted them to describe non-Jews as “Gentile dogs.”
Officially, these students of the Old Testament would have agreed that all are sinners but they might have added a footnote that said, “All have sinned, but the Jews, not so much.” But when Paul said, “For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” he was saying it doesn’t matter who you are or what your religious tradition, we are all in the same condition. Peterson’s rendering of the verse is on the mark: “…we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us [Jews] and them [non-Jews]) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us….”
We know there is no room for arrogance. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who feel poor in spiritual things, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (Matthew 5:3) In a world that flatters us with the belief we are all spiritual giants, we say we need to admit we are all spiritual paupers.
Don’t get me wrong, we Christians encourage our children to have a healthy self-esteem, but we don’t do so by pretending they’re blinding us with the brightness of their halos.
The Brazilian government reported on finding a previously unknown tribe or people group, in the western Amazon jungle near the Chilean border. Immediately, various organizations became concerned that the tribe would be endangered if logging operations entered the area, forcing them to evacuate.
The report showed pictures of several individuals looking up at the helicopter as it buzzed the village. In one picture, a man appeared to be firing an arrow at the copter. We can imagine the poor guy being frightened out of his wits at the sight. In another, it looked as if a man were thinking, “I wish I had one of those; it would make getting around a lot easier.” Okay, maybe not. But you can be sure that no matter how simple and uncomplicated the lives of these people, there is greed, envy, hate. No one escapes it.
Sin is a universal problem. None of us escapes it. We Christians are the first to admit it. Sometimes we are the last to insist on it.
Where is the arrogance in this?
How can we be arrogant when we say God alone could solve our problem?
Disabled by the fact of our sin, we cannot make ourselves fit to be acceptable to God. The hope of a solution is out of our hands. This is why what Paul has to say is so important.
[We] are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
We Christians believe that at the heart of the gospel lies the initiative and ingenuity of God.
Our hope of salvation is linked to the identity and work of Jesus Christ. As God in the flesh, Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves. The word-pictures Paul uses all stress God’s role in solving the problem we could not solve.
Paul says Jesus played the role of “a sacrifice of atonement” (“propitiation” in some translations). The picture suggests we came to the temple empty-handed. With no sacrifice adequate for our sins, we could not enter the presence of God; access to him was denied. But Jesus became that sacrifice for us. He made possible our access to God.
Paul says Jesus provided our “redemption.” The word comes from the slave market. It invites us to imagine ourselves as slaves, bound and chained. We had nothing with which to purchase our freedom. But God, through Christ, liberated us. He paid what was necessary to remove our chains. Because of Christ we have been set free. We are free from guilt. Free from shame.
Paul says Jesus made possible our “justification.” The image places us in a court of law. We are justly accused of a crime. The evidence against us is irrefutable. Suddenly, the judge declares us not guilty. He does so because Christ has taken our penalty for us.
How can God do this? He can do so because, in the death of Christ, the Judge becomes the judged. He remains “righteous” because he does not ignore our sin; he deals with it decisively. At the same time, he is able to “justify” those who place their faith in Christ. The Judge (God) is able to bring the guilty into a new relationship with him because he, himself, took the penalty of our crime.
God did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
What does this do with our very human tendency to boast of our accomplishments, even our spiritual accomplishments? As Paul asks, “what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.” When we understand the gospel, there is no ground for arrogance.
How can we be arrogant when we admit the only reason for pride is in what God has done?
In the opening chapter of Romans, Paul states the theme he will unfold throughout the letter. He says,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is
the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek[1]
In the original language, Paul’s statement, “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” is stated so forcefully that it has the effect of his saying, “I am proud of the gospel.” The New Century Version actually translates the verse as, “I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes…”[2]
Paul’s “pride” is not arrogance. It is confidence in the effectiveness of his message. The Gospel does what it promises: it brings those who accept it into a right relationship with God. It invites us to lay aside our pride, our self-confidence and accept that we are accepted, simply because of what Jesus has done.
Paul’s confidence in the gospel prompted him to share it wherever he went. He knew the whole world needed to hear it. The church grew because men and women who discovered the reality of the gospel couldn’t keep quiet about it. Would that we had that kind of confidence today.
Conclusion
To our shame, sometimes we Christians have been arrogant. A good dose of the gospel is a great cure for arrogance.
Yet, the most dangerous arrogance is that arrogance that hears the gospel and says, “I don’t need it.”
[2] The Holy Bible : New Century Version , Containing the Old and New Testaments. Dallas, TX : Word Bibles, 1991, S. Ro 1:16
