On the Malodorous Stain We Call Humanity
Humans, am I right? We’re so icky. And I'm pretty sure the females have cooties.
In all seriousness though, misanthropy seems to be fashionable right now. I myself am not innocent of this either, but at least on an intellectual level I can seek to change that about myself and hope it bleeds over into the way I treat other people. Though it seems that from Calvinists to Atheists and everyone in-between, Total Depravity is as believable as what goes up must come down. When speaking to my old school friends over Skype, non of whom are practising Christians, they all agreed on one thing;
Humans are evil. Stupid. Unlovable. Violent. Greedy. Discriminatory.
Oh wait.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19–21, ESV
Back when I was a five point toting reformed Calvinistic Anglican, I would point to passages like this one and Romans 3 and Ephesians 2 in order to demonstrate that humanity was entirely bankrupt of morality and deserving of eternal hell fire. Whilst I was not wrong per-say, I was definitely barking up the wrong tree. It is indeed true that humanity, without the grace of God, deserves to be resigned to the rubbish bin of history, but it is also true that this is all past tense.
Humans mucked everything up. But Christ is fixing it. Simply look at Romans 8:22 and read that the whole of creation has, and the RSV uses a great word here, been groaning in travail. Labour pains, as if all things are giving birth to something new. We as the Church have the first fruits of the Spirit, but there is so much more to come. The new creation, a new Heaven and a new Earth, is being born through the cross out of the old.
Therefore we must recognise that the centre point of all history, that of the cross of the Son of Man, is the beginning not of condemnation, as he came not to condemn the world (John 3:17), but the beginning of the kingdom of God. A rather kingdom obsessed Anglican priest I know understands this principle. The Gospel is good news precisely because the love of God has begun to give birth to a better humanity through the waters of baptism (Romans 6:3-4) and the old human nature has been crucified along with him.
Those who are baptised into this new covenant can no longer call themselves totally depraved. They have been made whole and new, the taint of original sin has been washed away by the gracious gift of God. In simpler terms, the cross served to bring those who were once far off, near ( Ephesians 2:13). This has been accomplished through your baptism (1 Peter 3:21) and shall be kept through the Eucharist (John 6).
Since we have participated in the death of Christ in baptism, and obeyed in Holy Communion, we are grafted on to him as members of the body, the Church. Membership of the Body of Christ demands from us the showing of fruits of the Spirit which are;
- Charity
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Generosity
- Gentleness
- Faithfulness
- Modesty
- Self-Control
- Chastity
Misanthropy, therefore, has no place in this new creation we are witnessing come into existence. Total Depravity is totally depraved and runs contrary to the message of the Bible. We have been made alive in Christ and that dark era of human history has been left behind. Conforming ourselves to Christ means developing a radical love for the unlovable and a willingness to lead them into the Kingdom of God, encouraging them to shed the sins they still cling to and then gleefully presenting them to our Father in Heaven, robed in righteousness dedicated to the pleasure of God.
The old world is passing away in labour, the new demands we let it go.
