Change
(Just a reminder: this blog contains spoilers! You have been warned).
Michael’s strategy of bringing a group of faulty humans together to torment each other has an interesting side effect: they are confronted with their own weaknesses and failings in a way they can’t avoid. At first this is just the intended torture, but eventually the pressure builds to the point where they finally face the truth about themselves – which isn’t always easy to see:
Eleanor: But wait, why is Chidi here?
Chidi: There’s something you don't know about me.
I read an article saying that growing almonds was bad for the environment, and yet I continued to use almond milk in my coffee
Michael: No, dingus! You hurt everyone in your life with your rigidity and your indecisiveness.
Chidi: Oh, fork! You're right.
(Series 1, episode 13)
Tahani has some difficulty as well:
Michael: There’s a very good reason why you ended up here.
You never cared about the people you were helping.
You did it only for fame or status or to spite your family.
Tahani: That is utter tosh! I had my flaws, just like anyone else, but I raised billions for charity.
I was a good person and I defy you or anyone else to prove otherwise.
Michael: You know, in all the reboots, I never showed you how you died.
I was saving it in case I ever needed to really make you miserable.
But it’s hilarious ... of course, I mean sad. But it might help you come to grips with who you really were.
[Tahani watches her death scene]
Tahani: Oh no ... I died in Cleveland?
Michael: I don’t think that should be your biggest takeaway from that story.
Tahani: Is that really all I cared about? Just outshining my sister and gaining praise and acclaim? I mean, I did gain praise and acclaim. You know, I dare say on some occasions, more praise and acclaim than my sister, Kamilah, so ... Oh. Oh, I see.
(Series 2, episode 3)
When someone becomes a Christian they experience a moment of truth as well. Which is kind of logical: to be saved from your sins, you need to realise you need saving. If Jesus died in our place, that implies that our sins deserved death.
Such a turning point is called repentance. For some people the word “repent” probably conjures up images of fiery preachers, weeping over sins and maybe some kind of penance to make up for them (which misses the point – there is nothing left to make up for). But repentance simply means to change your mind about something. Which may not be a big deal if you are changing you mind about what to have for dinner (“Chidi:Okay, getting close here. Just mulling the ethical ramifications of various soups.”). But if the issue is your whole way of life, who God is and who you are to him, then it can totally rearrange your life.
This repentance does include an aspect of wanting to be a better person, but if that is all it was, it would be completely off target. The issue is this: the idea that we need to make up for our sins by being good is deeply ingrained inside people. The huge relief of becoming a Christian is that you don’t need to perform to get God to accept you; you get ten trillion points from the moment you are his. Even if you never changed, you are still loved and accepted forever.
Having taken the pressure off, God then goes to work transforming you. Because we really do want to be all that we were created to be. Eagles were made to fly and horses to run, and we were made to reflect God’s nature by living a life of love.
There is one more twist to the story: becoming a Christian is described as dying and being brought to life again, or being born again as a new person. There is a change in your desires so that you are pulled towards the things God loves; even if you stumble, you spring back again. The overall trend of your life is towards God.
This is the answer to the question: won’t people take advantage of God’s forgiveness and just sin all they like? God doesn’t just forgive us and leave us as we are; he also frees and empowers us to be who were were created to be, which is like Jesus. It is a process, but he promises to complete what he began.
So in the end, God is all about change. One Bible verse calls us his “workmanship” (or work of art), with good works he prepared in advance for us to do. But the starting point is knowing that we are 100% accepted just as we are, without changing a thing.
Next: Is good stupid? Featuring Doug Forcett, Jesus and Gwendolyn the postwoman.
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