Saved by Grace
We cannot judge the past by modern standards. Yet, our society does it constantly. We claim we would never behave the way those who came before us did. We declare ourselves to be more sophisticated, more ‘evolved’, more in tune with our feelings. Yet, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, our confidence in our own righteousness is based on blind belief and misinformation. We may not commit the exact same sins as those who came before us, but our crimes and failures measure just as unholy as theirs.
I am often reminded of this when the younger generation here in America rage against the founders of our country for having owned slaves. This is a classic example of judging the past by modern sensibilities and of blinding ourselves to our own sins now. While the Bible does speak of slavery as a predominantly accepted thing, we have to understand that the situation then was very different to what we think of when we hear of colonial slavery. The horrors of what happened in this and other countries towards captured and stolen people is something we should look on with disgust. However, we should not presume to be better than the ones who built their wealth on the scarred backs of abused peoples.
Let’s put things in perspective. Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million people were sold as slaves in the Americas. That number sounds staggering, and it is. Today, people quote this statistic to prove how depraved a society we were at our founding. They use it as a basis for claiming our country to be tainted and corrupt. 12.5 million people suffered at the hands of others to build our nation. However, before we get all high and mighty, thinking we are sooo much better than those who came before us, let us compare today with yesterday. Today, 5.4 out of every 1,000 people are in some sort of forced servitude – whether that is service related or sex trafficking. That equates to 40.3 million people. That number is just one year, not a combined total of 341 years. How quickly we fall from our high pillar of supposed superiority.
The last ‘woe’ Jesus gave us was a warning against thinking we are any better than those who went before us. Thinking we have somehow achieved a higher level of righteousness on our own power is folly. Judging ourselves better than anyone else invites our mistakes to be exposed. Let us daily remind ourselves we are no better than the most vile of law breakers. Let us remind ourselves of Romans 3:23-24 which says, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” If not for God’s grace, we would stand as condemned as the most violent of murderers, the most hopeless of addicts, and the most rebellious of unbelievers. We are no better. We are simply saved by grace.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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