THE ONLINE SEMINAR
How to Have the Living Water of Peace, Hope,
and Purpose that Jesus Promised Us
Session Four: Our Nature
Part 3
Over 3,000 years ago, King David of Israel loved God and was a very Spiritual person. Because of his intense Spirituality, David received many revelations from God and, since he was a musician as well as king, David often composed songs about the things God taught him. Here’s one of the songs that David composed. It’s based on a teaching that God gave him:
“The Lord looks down from Heaven on the sons and daughters of men,
to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. But all of
them have turned aside. They’ve all become evil. There’s not one who
does good – not even one.”
Thus, like the apostle Paul in the First Century, King David of ancient Israel knew that people aren’t born unselfish, kind, and forgiving. Indeed, an interesting thing about King David’s song is that the apostle Paul quoted it in one of his own letters many centuries later.[2. Paul quotes King David’s song in Romans, chapter 3, verses 11-12.] This proves that both King David and the apostle Paul (two of the most Spiritual people who ever lived) knew and admitted that humans aren’t born “good.”
Instead, they both knew that humans are born self-centered, unkind, and unforgiving in their deepest natures. So like King David and the apostle Paul, let’s continue being open and honest about human nature, too. To do that, let’s drill deeper into what the early Christians said on the subject. To start, let’s remember our Spiritual growth diagram as it looked back in Part 2 of this session:
Growth: Our Spirit, Mind, and Selfish Nature
Next, let’s talk more about the meaning of Our Selfish Nature on the diagram at the lower right.
(Our Flesh)
We already know from Part 2 of this session that the First Century Greek word sarx (“flesh”) refers to the core selfishness of human nature. Over the centuries, researchers have translated the word sarx as “the old self,” “the old nature,” “the carnal nature,” “the sin nature,” and “the selfish nature.” So it seems researchers have trouble deciding exactly how to translate sarx in today’s terms.
That means we need to standardize again. So let’s agree that we’re going to translate the Greek word sarx to mean: Our Selfish Nature. And let’s agree that the most popular early Christian synonym for sarx is: “Flesh.” Thus, in the future, whenever we have a quote that uses the word sarx, we’ll translate it as “selfish nature.” And to show that we’ve standardized a term, we’ll put the words “selfish nature” in parentheses. An example might look like this: “Nothing good lives in my (selfish nature).”
Now, let’s look at three examples of what the early Christians taught about human nature – and as agreed – let’s translate sarx in the examples with our standardized term, “selfish nature.”
1. In 49 AD, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Turkey. He wrote the letter to remind them of what he’d previously told them about human nature. Here’s what Paul reminded them:
“The behaviors of our (selfish nature) are obvious: They’re sexual immorality,
impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension,
envy, drunkenness, and the like.”[3. Adapted from Galatians, chapter 5, verses 19-21.]
2. Then, in 66 AD, an early Christian elder and apostle named Peter (he was the professional fisherman who once denied knowing Jesus), wrote a letter to worldwide Christians to remind them of what Christians should never do. Here’s what Peter wrote:
“Those who follow the unclean desires of their (selfish nature) always
despise authority; and are so bold and arrogant that they’re not even
afraid to slander angels.”[4. Adapted from Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 10.]
3. Earlier, in 63 AD, Peter had written another letter. It was to worldwide Christians and it gave them the reverse message. In that letter, he explained how Christians are supposed to behave. Here’s what Peter said:
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain
from the cravings of your (selfish nature), which war against your (spirit).”[5. Adapted from First Peter, chapter 2, verse 11.]
It’s important to notice the three italicized words, “obvious,” “unclean,” and “abstain,” in these quotes. These three words form a complete lesson about people’s selfish inner natures. First, the Christian view of human nature is that it’s obviously the motivation that causes selfish behavior in people. Second, the Christian view of human nature is that its selfish motivations are unclean. (In other words, they’re immoral, unethical, and morally contaminated.) Third, all Christians are urged to abstain from the selfish motivations of their human natures and from the selfish behaviors that those motivations produce. So – using these early Christian principles – let’s now define the term “human nature.”
Using what the early Christians taught in the First Century, here’s our definition of “human nature”:
Human nature is the inner selfish motivation that makes people proud,
angry, vulgar, critical, and cruel. It’s born in people and can’t be removed
or changed. Both Christians and non-Christians have it. In this seminar we’ll
call it “Our Selfish Nature.” It can also be called by its most common early
Christian synonym, “Our Flesh.”
Next, to be clear and precise: Let’s remember that people don’t need to be drooling serial killers or fiendish opium peddlers to admit that they have a selfish human nature. It’s true that murder and drug abuse are motivated by human nature. But it’s also true that the negative motivations of human nature can be small and can pass almost unnoticed.
For instance, one national survey found that people spend 94 percent of their time thinking about themselves. More, the survey found that while people are thinking about themselves, they’re completely unaware of the wants and needs of other people.[6. Adapted from a survey in The New Time Management. Chicago, IL: Nightingale-Conant Corporation, 1983.]
So the negative motivations of our selfish human natures can be large and dramatic; or, they can be small and pass unnoticed. However, they always create negative behavior in us – and that’s what we want to avoid. The good news is that the early Christians knew how to avoid the negative motivations of our selfish natures, and how to avoid the negative behaviors those motivations produce. And, because of that knowledge, the early Christians in the first three centuries of Christian history lived at a level of peace, hope, purpose that the rest of the world didn’t have and didn’t understand. That’s why the goal of this seminar is reveal how the early Christians did it in their day – and how we can do it in our day.
We said earlier that at some point in our lives, each of us needs to answer the basic question: “Are people born selfish or unselfish?” For me, I answered that question many years ago. Growing up, I learned from experience and common sense that all people (including me) are born selfish. They’re not born unselfish. More, I learned from experience and common sense that the purpose of Christianity is to avoid the negative behavior that our selfish human natures produce in us.
Hopefully, we agree now on the principle that people are born with a selfish nature and need help controlling the selfish behavior that selfish nature produces in them. If we do agree on that ancient and common sense principle, we’re ready for the surprising sessions that lie just ahead. But before moving on, let’s review our completed The Three Circles diagram one more time. The completed diagram looks like this:
Growth: Our Spirit, Mind, and Selfish Nature
Having reviewed the completed diagram, let’s move on to Session Five and talk more about what motivates people – and about why people do the things they do.
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