Is man good?

It’s a discussion I'm having with a dear old friend, who is very firmly on the left. We are having a civil conversation, and its iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17), as we learn from each other’s perspective. I mean we tend to know who’s bad (it’s the other side), and we tend to know who’s good (it’s us)! Notwithstanding this tendency, I observe another tendency, that is that we tend to polarize on the above question dividing into two camps, the yes camp and the no camp!

Now not everyone will agree with me (surprise), but I think to have the correct theological perspective on this question requires us to hold two things tension. The first (a) is that man is made in the image of God, so there is something intrinsically noble about him (choose your hero), the second (b) is is that mankind is fallen, and the default is for him to act out of his fallen sinful nature (choose your villain). What I am saying is that neither those who say that man is basically good, nor those who believe in the total depravity of man, are holding a balanced Biblical view.

Holding these things together in tension, gives us an advantage when it comes to engaging in meaningful dialogue. I mean if we want the other side to hear us, this will not happen if our attitudes, words and actions reflect a (b) sided view, so that the other side is the enemy! In other words, we can afford dignity to the other person, even if we radically disagree with their views. To say it in yet another way, we need to fight ideas, not people.

Father, it’s so easy to get stirred up by the ideas of the other side which we “know” are wrong. And we need to remember first and foremost that You love the other person, and that that person has value even if his or her ideas, in our opinion, do not. This does not mean to say that we cannot criticize behaviour, Jesus did (Mathew 23:14). But it’s interesting to note that the lion’s share of His criticism was directed at the religious hypocrites. So Lord please burn away any remaining self-righteousness in me, and help my speech to be full of grace and seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6), and I’ll give You all the honour, glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen