God puts everyone on a level playing field. Even if life is good and everything is in order, there is still need of the Cross. The Sunday sermon is something we should ponder throughout the week. This Sunday’s sermon grabbed my attention. We often forget about the moral person.

As Jon talked about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, men who had it all together, I remembered a time in college. I was talking with a gentlemen about mankind’s condition. The often used phrase “religion  is a crutch” and “man is morally good or neutral” were used. He claimed to be an atheist or perhaps an agnostic. Chance would have it that the movie we picked was Sphere…

Given my class in the Book of Romans, I wanted to hear his insights to Romans 1 and 2. In church we often focus on Romans 1, but we forget about chapter 2. In discussing human depravity we focus on how bad man can be and forget our man can be relatively good. Paul deals with the moral person. Moral people who do good by following “the law of God as it is written on their hearts.” Even given their moral code, they fail to measure up even to their own standard. After discussing our views on man, we watch his beloved movie.

The movie Sphere brings out the nature of man in Romans 2. Here a perfect object- the sphere- brings out the worse of the characters. Their conclusion was man wasn’t good enough to posses the sphere. Man was depraved according to the movie. When it ended there was that awkward silence right after. I did not pounce, and he said there was more to think about. We agreed, even good people have faults. We enjoyed the discussion and it brought more depth to watching the movie. A seed was planted.

Romans 1 talks about the highly sinful man, Romans 2 the moral man and Romans 3 the religious man. All three need the Gospel. Back to the sermon… Jesus related to the moral and the religious. He talked with Nicodemus, even if it was on the down low. Part of mission and being compassionate is meeting people where they’re at. While Jesus came for the sick and the needy (those who need the infamous “crutch”) He did not neglect the good people too. Jesus knew this simple truth: We don’t need a crutch or a good moral code, we need a savior.

(especially on Monday)