News

There are lots of debates regarding human nature. It seems there always have been. Some say we are mostly a product of nature, others say its nurture that makes us who we are, while still others say both play a role. What about one’s unique individuality ask some?

On the other hand, some arguments are based on the goodness or lack of such in human nature. Are people basically good or are we intrinsically bad or evil? Or does it vary from person to person, and we can therefore divide people into categories of good or bad?

John Morley, a mostly 19th Century author, newspaper editor, member of Britain’s Liberal Party and onetime Ambassador to Ireland once wrote, “The belief that human nature is basically good is the key to that secularizes the world.” That is, if humans are basically good, there is no need for God, confession, redemption, and forgiveness.

Yes, at creation God created humanity and said it was good. Yet I had one Hebrew scholar say the word good (tov) in Hebrew meant more that “it works” than it did any moral assessment. And in the creation account this good creation went out on its own and rebelled from any created goodness. This still good creation continues to do so.

We Lutherans tend to have a “both/and” view of many things, including human nature. Calvinists are much more pessimistic about us humans while Unitarians and many others are much more optimistic. We tend to go along with Martin Luther’s “simul Justus et peccator” view, that is, we are simultaneously saint and sinner.

This view of Luther’s means we are not one moment good and another moment bad. It means even when doing good, we are yet sinners. It also means even when sinning we are those yet loved and redeemed by God.

This all means you and I and all those billions around us cannot be boiled down to something as simplistic or clear cut as “good” or “bad”. We are the whole human package. We are very much those of the “simul Justus……” variety. We are those called to love the neighbor and those loved ultimately and best by God.

Perhaps the ultimate place to see human nature is the cross. In the cross we see what humanity tends to do with God’s will for a creation called good. Humanity tends to reject it even at times to the point of violence. In the cross we also see the value God places on humanity. We see the length to which God is willing to go to redeem and remake rebellious humanity into a creation that can yet be called good but only because God makes it so.

We are inching toward Lent. Lent is not to be a morose time or a season to depress us. It is to be a serious time. It is a time to take seriously who we are and who we are not. It is a time to take the grace of God in Jesus seriously….seriously enough to trust that God’s work is to redeem sin, not conquer or subdue those who sin.

So what is human nature after all? It is something God cares for and cares for deeply. It is not ever left to its own. We are free to argue about nature vs nurture and such. We do so under the grace of one who can and does redeem the ills and errors of both.

January is frequently a time when therapists see an uptick in people making appointments because they are especially stressed. Stress is common to the human race and many like to offer simple 1, 2, 3 steps to either avoid it or make it disappear. If we can really do such things, was it really stress?

I wonder if Jesus was ever stressed. Certainly, he had some concerns. On the cross he made sure his mother was cared for. At times he got in a boat or otherwise got away from the pressure of crowds and demands. This is why we have such things as church camps and retreat centers. In addition to providing programs of learning and growth, they serve as quiet, reflective places to get away and unwind.

Stress often serves to expose us. In times of stress we see who is anxious, who is calm, who deals with things and who is indifferent. We learn who is strong and who is not. Many times stress takes over not because we are not strong, but because we misunderstand what strength is and think being strong is simply some ability we have or do not have.

Being strong begins long before we have to encounter an experience. It is working on and developing attitudes and skills regarding ourselves and regarding stress. Being strong is not deluding ourselves. It is not trying to be someone or something else, but allowing ourselves to be just who we are. That is real toughness. It is being content to be the one God created you to be to face stress as you, not some other.

When stress arrives we can choose to go back to safety or forward to growth. Strength is deciding who we want to be prior to any adverse experience so we can work toward that person when stress attacks. None of this is collection of platitudes. This involves hard work on our part. It involves allowing ourselves to be stressed, embracing the reality of where we are, who we are, and what we have to do. It involves not going it alone, often particularly when we feel like we want to withdraw and be alone.

We see tough talking men and women as strong and powerful. We don’t see Jesus as one of those, quite the opposite. Strong talk can develop a callousness with little or no concern for others, again the opposite seen in Jesus. Yet who was stronger than Jesus? In a quiet, determined, straight-forward way Jesus faced both his critics and authorities who opposed him. Jesus was more concerned that his message about God and God’s loving embrace was proclaimed than Jesus was concerned for his own life. Yet, no martyr complex, no “woe is me” whining or accusing, just plowing forward.

Our Christian faith is not about a stress-free life. If anything, living a life called Christian brings on an additional amount of stress. Following Jesus means doing hard things. It involves cross bearing, sacrificial acts for the sake of others. Acts that are stressful.

If we want new life, we cannot retreat into the old. It probably wasn’t all that safe there anyway. The call of Jesus into the good news of the Gospel is a call to become strong even to the point of admitting and experiencing weakness. Such willingness is the true test of strength.