A New Way To Answer A Common Question


Every day people ask us how we're doing. Sometimes we answer honestly and
say: "Horrible!" Most often we thoughtlessly reply, "Fine." or "Not bad."
If it's Monday, we say, "As well as can be expected." If it's Friday, we
respond, "Great, it's pay day!" Of course, when asked how we're doing, we
all follow the unspoken assumption that the person asking doesn't really
want to know how I 'am doing. People just want quick, courteous responses.
We're simply too busy to hear a longer answer.

But let me suggest another way of responding that will take this common
question to a deeper level. The next time someone asks you how you're doing,
say, "Better than I deserve." If you follow this advice, be prepared for a
few surprised looks. Some people will even ask what you mean. You could then
tell them that you're affirming the truth of Psalm 103:10. Concerning God,
the psalmist wrote, "He has not dealt with us as our sins deserved."

The New Testament reminds us that "all have sinned" and "the wages of sin is death"

(Romans 3:23;6:23). Since scripture teaches that God's required judgment for
sinners is death, then all sinners (which includes all human beings without
exception or distinction) deserve to die. Sinners who are alive, (like the
one writing this column and those who are reading it), are all enjoying
undeserved extensions of life. We deserve to die as the just punishment for
our sins, yet we live-only because of the gratuitous mercy of God. We are
all doing better than we deserve.

Of course, if you don't consider yourself a sinner, you would disagree. But
the person who denies his own sin is self-deceived. He has pulled the wool
over his own eyes. He has duped himself. The Russian Novelist (who stared
evil in the face in the Gulag), was closer to the truth when he wrote, "If
only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy
them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every
human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart."

If we are honest, we should be willing to admit being shocked by our
capacity for thinking or doing evil. Jesus said, "...out of men's hearts,
come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed,
malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly (Mark 7:21-22).

Each day we are guilty of sins of commission (doing things that do not
please God) and sins of omission (failing to do what pleases God). Our
failure to obey the two great commandments of God is sufficient evidence.
"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally
important: `Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:38-39).

In his highly acclaimed book on sin, Cornelius Plantinga Jr. suggested, "The
heart of sin is the persistent refusal to tolerate a sense of sin, to take
responsibility for one's sin, to live with the sorrowful knowledge of it and
to pursue the painful way of repentance" (Not The Way It's Supposed To Be).

Personally, I am most convicted of my sin when I consider that the main
expression of sin is selfishness. One teacher wrote, "Since scripture
teaches that the essence of godliness is love to God, we seem to require as
the essence of sin the love of self. That selfishness is the essence of sin
is evident also from the fact that all forms of sin can be traced to
selfishness as their source. Thus man's natural appetites, his sensuality,
selfish ambitions and selfish affections are rooted in his selfishness. Even
an idolatrous affection for others may be due to the feeling that they are
in some sense a part of ourselves, and so regard for them be only an
indirect love of self. When selfishness is considered as an undue preference
of our interests, we have in selfishness the essence of all sin"

The point is simple: Because we are all sinful, God would be completely just
in condemning every person to the punishment of death. Only God's undeserved
favor could rescue us from his judgment - and this grace is what He offers
to all who turn to the savior. Scripture says, "Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners" (I Timothy 1:15). When will we realize how much we
need a savior. Those who find this vocabulary of salvation distasteful have
an unrealistic view of the human predicament.

So, "How are you doing?" To answer, "Better than I deserve" would be a
significant change for most people. We tend to think that we deserve to be
treated better than we're being treated. This change of perspective,
however, could free us from the resentment, bitterness and despair that threaten to destroy our lives. At the end of each day, we can thank God that he has not dealt with us as our sins deserve.

Steven W. Cornell
Millersville Bible Church
58 West Frederick Street
Millersville, PA. 17551