Though we don’t feel guilty about it, we are guilty of conflating our feelings of guilt with the reality of guilt. That is, perhaps because we live in a therapeutic culture, or perhaps because we live in a relativistic culture, we only think we are guilty when we feel guilty. And then we turn around and feel guilty for feeling guilty. It’s not, after all, like there is some list of rules out there that we’re supposed to measure up to, right? If there is no list of rules, whence comes the guilt? Is guilt merely a cultural construct, a societal super-ego that we ought to ignore? Is it just a man-made tool designed to keep us in line? Are we showing ourselves to be slaves when we are shackled to guilt? And is this shame something we should keep in the closet, lest others be tempted to fall into the same morass?
Herein is a dilemma. If there is no “ought” that we fail to measure up to, then there is no “ought” for failing to measure up to our conviction that there is no “ought.” If there is no “ought” why ought we to believe such? To feel guilty for feeling guilty is to be guilty of the greatest sin of our age, affirming a standard of right and wrong. Heck, feeling guilty for feeling guilty practically makes you a raving fundamentalist. That is, if there are no rules we can be actually guilty of breaking, then there is no rule to say we must not think ourselves guilty.
Our little minds are haunted by this hobgoblin of inconsistency. Sometimes we live as if there actually were a set of rules somewhere, and sometimes we live as if no such list exists. To put it more bluntly still, all of us deny the reality of an objective good and evil, a standard higher than our preferences, when we want to do that which makes us feel guilty, but all of us assume the reality of good and evil when others want to do to us what makes them feel guilty. When we cheat on our taxes, there is no right and wrong. When we are being mugged, there is a right and wrong. There are no atheists in foxholes, and there are not moral relativists in Dachau.
If we want to hold onto our moral indignation over holocausts, global warming, and the clubbing of baby seals, then we are stuck with a moral standard, something above us that we are accountable to, something which may demonstrate that whether we feel it or not, we are guilty. And so it is. We feel guilty because we are guilty. The truly scary thing is that we will not escape the reality of our guilt, should we succeed in casting off our feelings of guilt. They’re not the same thing at all. A seared conscience may not feel guilt, just as a paralyzed hand may not feel the heat on the stove. In both cases, however, great damage is done.
Your guilty secret isn’t a secret. Though I don’t know you, I know this about you. You, when no one is looking, when you go to sleep at night, know that you are guilty. You know that you don’t put in a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. You know that you visit websites that you are ashamed of. You know that you speak ill of your friends and neighbors, that you spread gossip. You know that others suffer for your temper. You know that you enjoy far more than you deserve, and yet you do not give thanks. Which brings us to another guilty secret- you know that the good you do does not make up for all that you do wrong. You tell yourself, “I try to be the best person I can be” but you know it isn’t true. You know that even if it were true, your best does not make up for your worst. And so the guilt feelings hang around, nestled up close to your very real guilt. You feel guilty because there is a standard of right and wrong, something higher, more transcendent than mere societal norms. You know the standard exists, and you know that you do not measure up.
I know you know this not because I have been given second sight, not because I am a prophet or the son of the prophet, but because I too am a sinner, and the son of a sinner. I too have fallen short of my own moral calling. I too fail to give thanks for the many blessings I receive, that I do not deserve at all. I too lie awake at night, alone with my guilt. I too have tried any number of strategies to jettison this ball and chain, and like you, each time I have failed.
Guilt is real, and must be punished. When you consider that in order for there to be a transcendent law there must be a transcendent law-giver, then you begin to realize the depth of our problem. We violate the very law of our Maker. We are rebels against our Creator. As small as we are, we have managed to offend the infinite God. And because He is who He is, He too cannot disregard the law. He cannot wink at our sin, or simply “nice” it away. It must be punished. And so it was.
This is the good news. The sins of those who are His, our real guilt, they have already been punished. For while God cannot wink at sin, He can and does love His children. Out of this love, He took on flesh and dwelt among us. The very Son of God was born in a stable. From there He grew. He experienced what it is to be a man, save one thing. He never felt guilt, because He alone was never guilty. He kept the standard, perfectly. And then, when His time had come, He was punished for our sins. His Father poured out His just wrath toward our sins at His only-begotten Son. This is the answer to Jesus’ cry of agony, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” He was forsaken that we might be forgiven. And then, so that all the world might know that Jesus was not guilty in Himself, He was raised from the dead. He walked out of the tomb, having defeated our guilt, and having defeated death.
This is God’s only solution to our guilt. If we confess our sins, He promises, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus has been raised from the dead, we are forgiven. This is why God became man, to solve the problem of our guilt. That is why we celebrate His birth, His death, and His resurrection.
Those who deny their guilt are, quite literally, damned liars. That is, they will pay for their sins on into eternity, suffering themselves the wrath of God for their sins. Those, on the other hand, who confess their guilt will have it wiped away, will be declared innocent on that great and final day. Of course, until that day, we all continue to sin. And those who have been forgiven continue to confess, and continue to be forgiven. Like the bumper sticker says- Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. We confess that there is a standard. We confess that we fall short of that standard. We confess that there is a Giver of that standard. We confess that it is He that we offend in our sins. And we confess that unless Jesus has paid for our sins, we too are doomed.
The same God who established the standard that we fail to meet, the Bible tells us, likewise calls all men everywhere to repent. This is the only way to not only escape our guilt, but to escape what our guilt has earned, the wrath of God. We are guilty, but in Christ we can be declared innocent. Repent, and believe the good news.