A Dark Human Nature

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Critics of Christianity claim that believers are simply not disciplined enough to be moral people, so they use their religion as a crutch. As Greg Laurie once said when being interviewed by Larry King on CNN, "Jesus is not a crutch, He's the whole hospital."

While Liberalism claims that it is horrible that Christians believe we have a sinful nature, and only leaning on God can protect us from our dark human nature, those same Liberals believe that we must be protected from ourselves by government through policies that tell us to wear seatbelts when we drive, that tell us to put away the phone when we drive even if it is hands-free, that tell us achievement is bad and must be punished with heavier taxation, that tell us what we can and can't eat and how much salt we should use, that tell us what we can and can't drink and how much sugar should be in those refreshments, and of course that tells us how to raise our kids. In fact, it is getting to the point that if you spank your children, you can be treated as an abusive parent by the State because these all-knowing government people have determined for you that spanking is a no-no; whether you like it or not!

Are we being told by Liberals to replace our supposed crutch of religion with the crutch of government?

If there are people appalled by the fact that I believe in a God that desires to protect us from our sinful natures, then why is it that those very same people believe that government should take on that role?

The truth is, we have a dark human nature. Whether you believe that from a religious viewpoint, or a socialist viewpoint, the fact is that when left to our own devices we are going to screw up royally.

We can try to do the right thing, and sometimes we succeed. Often we can carry a fairly reasonable amount of morality without necessarily crying out to God, or government, or to whoever else people cry out to. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. But in the grand scheme of things, we have a sinful nature. There is a constant battle between our flesh and spirit. So, because as a human being with a dark human nature, we are unable to earn God's good graces, because I am unable to earn my way to Heaven because of my sinful nature, a sacrifice had to be offered in the form of God in the flesh on a cross on Calvary.

So, with that provided sacrifice, God does literally protect us from ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with that. I am not so conceited to believe that I am capable of being a perfect specimen of moral righteousness all by myself. We are unable to reach such heights of human morality. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory.

As a man of God, I am constantly thinking of the Lord. I have Him on my mind, for the most part, continuously. Our obedience to the Lord requires such diligence. Our dark human nature is constantly at war with our spiritual identity, and one must be on constant guard for the poison darts of the enemy.

Do we fail, occasionally, in our walk with God? Absolutely. With the moral Biblical standards we try to live-our-lives-by guiding our actions, however, we are less likely to stumble.

What has been happening, however, is society is doing what it can to remove God from the picture. Prayer has been removed from schools, including personal prayer unless in a non-public setting. Recently, a group of children were even disallowed from praying on the steps of the Supreme Court. In every way, shape, and form, secularism has bled into society, and is trying to remove God from all parts of society. As a surprising result to them, however, their power base has dwindled, and our faith has not. Though in some segments of society our focus on Biblical principles has wavered, the core of Christianity has actually strengthened. Remember, historically, Christianity has experienced its greatest growth when faced with the worst persecution.

In today's society, as in the past when dark minions and principalities attempted to stamp out Christ, the result is the formation of two opposing camps in the culture war. The resolve of Christians has strengthened, but the onslaught by the forces of the enemies of God has left society suffering.

Many times people tell me how bad society has become. "People don't care," they say. "People will flip you off on the roadway, and people are angry for no apparent reason." I even had a situation where someone got upset at me because on the road I had passed him on the right, and as I passed him he hit his turn signal and nearly moved into my car. The person gunned up his car, pulled in front of me, and then slammed on his brakes. It was all I could do to keep from slamming into the other car. Then, the other party got out of his car, and yelled at me to get out too so that he could beat me into the ground. There he stood, in the middle of the roadway, throwing a temper tantrum like a two-year old, puffing his chest out, threatening to kick my butt because I got in his way when he wanted to change lanes.

Up the street a motorcycle cop in a parking lot had observed the whole episode. When the punk standing in the street as he rubbed his fists saw my eyes connect with those of the policeman, the angry young man looked back, got in his car, flipped me off, and sped away.

We have a violent, immoral, sexually perverse society that murders its own unborn children - because our eyes are off of God.

So, the question to liberals is, "Should we choose to allow the Grace of God to protect us from ourselves, or do we want government dictating to us our actions through mandates so that we may be protected from ourselves?" Who do you wish to be your god? The God in Heaven? Or the bureaucrat in Washington? Who do you wish to be the author of your guiding principles? A loving God? Or a tyrannical government?

I don't know about you, but I will take the Lord every time.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

School Group Told Not to Pray on U.S. Supreme Court Steps - LifeSiteNews