Our Sin Nature

For convincing evidence of the Bible’s claim that all men are born with a sin nature, turn on your TV and watch what is developing in New Orleans. In response to the United States’ worst natural disaster ever, people are taking advantage of the devastation by looting the businesses and homes of those affected by the Katrina. When confronted, either by people trying to stop them or by people trying to steal from them, they are becoming increasingly violent. The mayor of New Orleans has diverted nearly all of the police force from looking for survivors to trying to stop the looting.

We also see this in the gouging at the gas pumps. Rumor, not actual fact, drove the dramatic price increases.

We should not be surprised at this, as if we were horrified that people are capable of such hurtful and violent behavior. Over the next few days and weeks, we will read newspaper articles and watch television news reports that address the looting with the assumption that this is just the worst of society, good people “gone bad”.

But we know better. This is exactly what happens when men perceive that Godly restraints have been lifted, even if briefly. Selfishness and covetousness are our true native operating system, and we are now seeing the horror of it at work. This is what men do when no one is watching. This is what men do when authorities cannot enforce laws. This is what men do when they can.

Of all the world’s religions, only the Gospel as taught by the Christ addresses this phenomenon adequately. No other religion or pseudo-religious belief system posits that men are basically bad and in need of a Savior.