Christianity is not about good people getting better. It is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that Christianity offers hope and redemption to those who struggle with their flaws rather than just improving the already 'good' individuals.
This quote by Tullian Tchividjian highlights a fundamental aspect of Christianity: it is not merely a moral improvement system for already decent people but rather a source of hope and guidance for those who acknowledge their shortcomings. It suggests that Christianity provides comfort and acceptance to individuals who fail to meet moral standards, acknowledging that everyone struggles and needs grace.
In practice
During a church sermon discussing grace and forgiveness.
Christianity is not about good people getting better. If anything, it is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good. The heart of the Christian faith is Good News, not good advice, good technique, or good behavior. Too many people have walked away from the church, not because theyβre walking away from Jesus, but because the church has walked away from Jesus.
Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable.
Grief, of course, is not something that operates according to a specific time frame, and it seems cold to suggest otherwise. Yet when we do not grasp that God is present in pain, we eventually insist on victory or, worse, blame the sufferer for not "getting over it" fast enough. This is more than a failure to extend compassion; it's an exercise in cruelty.
Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.
In great countries, children are always trying to remain children, and the parents want to make them into adults. In vile countries, the children are always wanting to be adults and the parents want to keep them children.
One's true worth as a human being is not a matter of outward appearance or title, but derives rather from the breadth of one's spirit. Everything comes down to faith and conviction. It is what is in one's heart, and the substance of one's actions that count.
Sometimes I remind myself that I almost skipped the party, that I almost went to a different college, that the whim of a minute could have changed everything and everyone. Our lives, so settled, so specific, are built on happenstance.
Suffering does not befall him who is without attachment to names and forms.
We look back, already, with astonishment, at the daring outrages committed by despotism, on the reason and rights of man; we look forward with joy, to the period, when it shall be despoiled of all its usurpations, and bound forever in the chains, with which it had loaded its miserable victims.
For many people, one of the most frustrating aspects of life is not being able to understand other people's behavior.
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