Idly scouring the internet as I sometimes do, I came across an article entitled 50 NES Quotes You Should Know. Though the article succeeded in broadening my library of references to old school video games beyond “Do a barrel roll” and “Abort/Retry/Fail?”, the main revelation came from an offhand comment beneath the fourth page of the article:
Christianity says that people are inherently good and that deep down we all want to do the right thing. Video games prove the opposite is true.
This is not a nitpicky point. This is not a quaint theological issue. This is, quite literally, the first point in the Gospel message. People are inherently not good (Romans 3:10, Isaiah 64:6, 1 John 1:8, Isaiah 53:6). This is the very reason we need a savior (Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 3:18, Isaiah 53:5) – because we are unable in our own strength to bridge the gap of sin between ourselves and God – even to make motion in that direction (Romans 3:23, Romans 3:11). It is the foundation and purpose of the entire Christian faith that people are totally, though not irreparably, depraved.
This is the difference between Christianity and generic religion. This is the distinguishing feature that must be emphasized above all the self-help masquerading as trite religion, and the failure to communicate this point is the reason first of all that Liberal Protestantism is virtually extinct, and furthermore the reason for the continuing decline in the quality of what now passes in the Church: it makes itself irrelevant without this point. People see Christianity as just another self-help mechanism, and there is no shortage of false teachers to confirm that opinion.
Many churches love to talk about cultural relevance, or have been frightened into it by the prospect of being left behind culturally. Unfortunately these misguided attempts at engagement just make the Church indistinguishable from any other cultural voice. The Church must preach not only Jesus, but why Jesus. Relevance – not only cultural but trans-cultural – requires that we be unmistakably clear on the fundamental issue of depravity.
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