On the Spritual Glass Being Half Empty

Because I believe in the inherited sinful nature in all of Adam's children, I have been accused of viewing the glass of my spirit as half empty, whereas a more humanistic person views her glass as half full, ie we all are imperfect, but we all also have a spark of the divine. So my correspondent views herself as more positive-minded than I am.

Now, I will allow that many pharisaical christian types seem to dwell indeed on the sin and imperfection of our nature, especially that of people other than themselves. For me, it seems virtually impossible to consider the concept of our sinful nature without also recognizing the redeeming work of Christ. Then there seem to be many evangelicals who are so taken with the emotional experience of getting saved that they never move far from it. These, I think, are missing out on spiritual maturity.

On the other hand, many non-christians seem to try to fill up the half-empty glass with something other than the gospel of Christ. They numb or distract themselves with drugs, food, sex, and the pursuit of these and other things. Or they try to perform good works, laying up brownie points against the day of judgment.

Other secular types, though, engage in this positive thinking. They see their glass as half full, and endeavor to continue personal growth so that it might get more full, and with that noble effort they are quite content. They find a simple blanket statement that it cannot be good enough to be arrogant and offensive. How can I say such a thing? I can only rely on what Jesus himself said, that there is none good except God; that if you call someone a mean name, it's just as much a sin as committing murder. If you so much as look at a woman to lust after her, it's just as much a sin as committing adultery with her. He said that stuff, not me.

But I don't really want to dwell on that. I really want to get back to how I see the glass. Well, I do see it as half empty, to keep the original analogy, due to my own sins; but now I must extend the analogy. Picture the world covered with half-empty glasses. I would assert that the love and life of God is falling like rain upon all of these glasses - but there is a problem: the glasses are leaking because they have flaws. That is why they never fill up.

When I decided to follow Jesus, when I accepted Christ in my heart, however you want to conceptualize that born-again experience, that leaking glass gets put inside of Jesus' perfect glass. Then begins a process, even if I'm safe from my leaks, of repairing my own glass. To the degree that I can allow him to fill me with the righteousness that Christ's sacrifice has made available, I can see how far short of his glory I still fall. I think this is a good balance, becoming more aware of my sinful nature as I become more aware of Christ's perfect nature. By grace, this increased awareness actually has the power to improve me. The damage of sin is remediated; the glass fills up.