Theme(s): Sin Nature
Teaching point:
If were honest, we know that we are all monsters who need someone to save us.
Opening Questions:
What makes a person a good person—what you do or how do you act to be “good”? Who do you think is a good person? Do you think you’re a good person? What kind of person would you describe as a monster, how would they act, what would they do? Who do you think is a monster? Do you think you’re a monster?
Discussion:
In this very honest song, Emenim touches on something many of us feel, but are afraid to admit: we are not good people. Many of us, if we are honest, feel that we are monsters.
We like to think that we are good people—we don’t steal things, we don’t kill people, and we don’t abuse others for our own enjoyment. We aren’t one of those “bad” people. We think we are good. This is reinforced by our culture. We are told that anything that doesn’t inconvenience us or hurt us in some way must be good, and anything that does must be bad. Things are black and white, either good or bad, and we are always good.
Yet, operating from this mindset makes good and bad relative terms. Whoever is “good” to you is good, and whoever is “bad” to you is bad or evil. When this is the case, there starts to be no real good or evil, everything is relative to your position, and we define what and who is good and who is bad/evil.
Sadly, we often think this is how God defines good and evil. But, God gives us clear definitions of what is good and what is bad. Often, this is called “The Law” in religious circles. Read Romans 7:15-25. Paul writes about something we can all relate to. We know what we are supposed to do, and what we are supposed to avoid, but we know what we do and it’s most often what were not supposed to do. We know there is standard we should live by, and we are not living to that standard. We know what we deserve to get, yet for the sake of Christ it is not what we get.
Conclusion:
Emenim is right; each of us is a monster. When we take an honest look at ourselves, we know that we are not good people. We do not love others and God as much as ourselves. Yet, we can be friends with our own monster. Being good with God isn’t up to us. Nothing we can do can save ourselves; we can never be good enough for God to consider us good. But, we have a Savior that came to save us from ourselves. He did what we could not. Because of Him, we are loved by God and pulled back into His embrace like dearly beloved children.
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