What is
there to say about the avalanche of daily reports of sexual harassment/assault coming
out of the entertainment and political world?
We’re seeing the collapse of the “man is basically good” narrative.
Consider
that the general consensus in the non-Christian world is that man in his natural state
is benevolent. Left to himself,
untainted by evil influences, he will be committed to the good of others. It takes outside forces to make a person
evil.
Then consider
how different that notion is from the Bible’s statement on man’s natural
condition. Genesis 6:5 tells us that
every intention of the thoughts of the heart of man are only evil
continually. In other words, man is not
basically good. He’s basically rotten,
eaten up with evil from the inside. Man is naturally motivated
by sinful self-interest. His heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jer 17:9). Additionally, the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, delightfully following him (1 John 5:19; Eph 2:2).
Prior to a
few months ago, in Hollywood, Washington, D.C., and press rooms across the
country, it was easy to explain away the few sexual predators around as aberrations. But now, with additional
stories coming out every day about another actor or reporter or government
official who has crossed sexual lines in varying degrees, that narrative is
much harder to maintain. Perhaps
some of them would say we have an epidemic
on our hands. “There are many more people
infected than we thought, but it’s still a minority. That being said, we’ve got to do something
serious to deal with this huge problem.”
But is it
just a minority? Think about the many
people within the entertainment industry who have testified to the news media
and on social media regarding Harvey Weinstein that “this was common knowledge.” If you believe what you read and see and
hear, no one was shocked by this. What
might that tell us? There is an entire
industry there motivated by sinful self-interest.
Everybody knew that women were being harassed and assaulted but nobody
said anything. Why? It would
hurt their careers.
The same
could be said of some of the cases in the news industry or the political
world. Powerful people were known to be
exploiting others, but no one said anything because of the fallout they
themselves would receive. You see, depravity
is not only behind the sexual sin but also behind the silence of those who knew about it but did nothing to protect the weak.
“Man is
basically good” is a myth. Man is an
opportunist for self. When he gains
power over another, he will abuse it for his own gain. When others are victimized, if getting
involved will have negative personal consequences, he stands down.
Those of
us who are believers are right to be disturbed by what we’re seeing, but we
ought not be surprised. We know the
biblical worldview. We know that man is deceitfully wicked and that his only hope is faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ, who makes all things new (2 Cor 5:17). We have seen the
evidence of depravity in our own hearts.
We ourselves were dead in our trespasses and sins, living in the passions
of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind (Eph 2:1-3). The only difference between us and those in
the news is that by God’s sovereign grace, we heard the gospel and were drawn
by His loving hand to believe (Eph 2:8-9).
At the
same time, we should rejoice that evil is being exposed and in some cases
justice is being done (Micah 6:8). We should also rejoice that each of these stories vindicate the Christian worldview. That shouldn't lead us into any kind of smug victory lap, but out of concern for the lost, we should use it as a tool to share
the gospel. It’s a very natural thing to
take a conversation about the latest scandal and turn it toward the sinful
condition of man and his need for a Savior.
Man's self-deception about his own nature cannot hold up in God's world. When it is exposed, we should see it in biblical terms, thank God for the gospel and its effect in our lives, and begin to share that gospel with anyone willing to talk about it.
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