What's the Problem?

"As a rule, unless people agree on what the problem is, they cannot agree on what the solution is. Unless we can agree on what we believe we are being saved from, we cannot agree on what salvation itself is. For example, if we decide that the fundamental human problem is simply our location, our sense of loneliness in the universe, our sense of inadequacy, or our pathetic levels of self esteem, we will tilt the gospel to meet this perceived need...I hasten to add that the Bible does dare to address the matter of how we are to think of ourselves-matters that bear on self esteem-and it is concerned with justice. Yet on the face of it Paul is convinced that the root problem is our rebellion against God, our fascination with idolatry, our grotesque de-godding of God...We are at the center of the universe. Thus, we end up de-godding God in order to be able to sing with Frank Sinatra, 'I did it my way.' This is the very heart of all idolatry."

D.A. Carson