What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say “wisdom teeth?“ I bet I can guess what it was: Pain. It’s strange, isn’t it, that two words that sound positive and perfectly harmless actually bring to our minds negative thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. For me, when I think of “wisdom teeth“ I think of a time in my life when I made myself look pretty foolish. When I was a freshman in college several of my classmates talked about the awful experiences they had with wisdom teeth. Nothing about wisdom teeth sounded pleasant. One of my friends told me one day he felt fine and the next day his jaw began to hurt. He let it go for a while, but the pain got worse. Finally he went to a dentist who told him that his wisdom teeth needed to be taken out. He was sent to a specialist, who put him in a sleep. “When I awoke,“ my friend said, “my face was the size of a melon and my jaw felt like it was broken in four places.“ Another friend told me an even worse story. His wisdom teeth were what the dentist called “impacted.“ A surgeon had to use special instruments to extract the teeth from deep within the jawbone.
My mistaken self—diagnosis
The horror stories I heard involving wisdom teeth started to keep me awake at night. Before long, something strange began to happen. My jaws, on both sides, started to hurt! While sitting at my desk I found myself rubbing my jaws, feeling around for swellings, and progressively becoming convinced that my wisdom teeth were starting to cause trouble. I tried not to think about it, but as days turned into weeks and the strange feeling in my jaws kept getting worse, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I went to my dentist, where I was asked to sit down in one of those narrow dental chairs they have in such offices. I told him what was going on. “For weeks my mouth has felt awful,“ I said. “My wisdom teeth must be coming through on both sides and they really hurt. I think they must be “impacted.“
“Let’s take some X—rays,“ he nodded, and the hygienist soon came in and took several X—rays of my mouth —— both sides, top and bottom. I sat there in that uncomfortable chair nearly terrified while she developed the pictures. I tried to prepare myself for the bad news that in a few minutes I’d surely hear. After what seemed to be hours, the dentist walked back into the room holding the dreaded X—rays. I can still remember, word for word, what he said to me: “Well, Scott, you’re one of the lucky ones. You don’t have Wisdom Teeth! You’ve got a couple of molars that need attention, but you don’t have a Wisdom Tooth in your mouth.“ I was speechless. Somehow, I had convinced myself that I had Wisdom Teeth, and they were deeply impacted, and they were hurting me just awful. This experience in my college days taught me an important lesson. Diagnosing yourself as to what may be ailing you, can lead to wrong conclusions. Instead of self—diagnosis, it’s wiser to consult an expert, someone who is trained and competent, and prepared to give you a reliable opinion.
Here lies a truism that applies to all areas of life, from the engine of your car, to your computer that’s gone haywire, to the aches and pains you feel in your body. Neither ignore the indicators that a problem may exist, nor try to fix it yourself. Get a timely and accurate diagnosis, and with that in your hand you can consider the proper remedy. This is true especially in spiritual matters. A wrong diagnosis in these matters can bring the most serious, far—reaching consequences. A faulty diagnosis in matters of the soul may keep you from seeking, and accepting the right remedy.
God’s diagnosis of the human condition
In an old, single—chair barbershop I was discussing the state of the world with the barber and a few others who were in the shop. None of them was very optimistic about the way society was going. “I just can’t understand it,“ one man repeated several times. “Why can’t people just get along with one another? Why all the fighting and violence? What ails people anyway?“ There was silence for a moment, and then I said rather quietly: “It all started when Adam and Eve sinned against God, and sin has corrupted the whole human race since then.“ Nobody said anything after that. Two of the men went back to the checker game they were playing, and I paid for my haircut and slipped out the door. I wonder what they said after I was gone. I imagine that one of them grumbled, “That’s a preacher for you…always dragging religion into the conversation.“ Sin, especially, was not something those guys cared to hear about. It’s no wonder, then, that they remained bewildered as to the state of the world and people’s behavior. Deep down, they rejected God’s diagnosis as to the basic human problem. As a result, they didn’t have a clue regarding the spiritual and moral cancer afflicting society.
The Bible offers us a powerful illustration as to the nature and extent of this insidious disease. It’s found in an allegory in Romans, chapter 3, verses 10 to 18. There the inspired writer takes us into a kind of doctor’s office where a doctor is examining a patient thoroughly from head to toe. The doctor cannot help but notice that the patient is obsessed with evil thoughts. Bad words and ideas spill out of him. Like the men in the barber shop, the last thing he wants to hear is “God talk“ of any kind. “Open your mouth, please,“ the doctor says. A frightened look crosses the doctor’s face as he looks into the patient’s throat. What he sees there reminds him of an open grave. Everything to some degree is polluted, rotten and smelly. The doctor then checks the man’s tongue, and he observes that the tongue has a crooked bent to it. The man has told so many lies that his tongue itself is twisted. The doctor quickly pulls back his hand from the patient’s mouth when he sees that on the man’s lips, there is poison so venomous that it could kill the doctor in minutes. With a throat and mouth like that, it is no surprise that putrid words stream from this patient’s mind and heart. Bloodstains can be seen on his feet, which is no surprise either, because his victims have been many. He has a “rap sheet“ years long, and wherever he goes he leaves a trail of misery and ruin. For him, violence is a way of life, and he fears neither God nor a final judgment.
So, what’s the doctor’s diagnosis? What conclusion does he reach concerning the condition of the patient he has examined from head to toe? This man, says the Divine Diagnostician, this representative of the fallen human race, is under the power of sin and sin’s condemnation. He is not just sick, but he is sick—unto—death. His is an incurable condition without divine intervention. He may strut across history like a conqueror, and appear to be invincible. But in reality, he and all others are like the “walking dead.“ They look as if they’re alive, but spiritually and morally they’re dead. That’s my word for them, and you can read it for yourself in the letter Paul writes to the Ephesians. Divine grace through Jesus Christ is the only Remedy for cases like this.
A Wrong diagnosis?
Some people reject the diagnosis of the human condition as it’s spelled out in God’s Word. It’s too severe they feel, too demeaning to us intelligent human beings. Maybe it fits some people, really bad people, but not most of us. We’re better than the person described in Romans 3. These people turn to other religions and theologies that offer a more positive diagnosis of the human condition. They comfort themselves in the thought that what the Scriptures say probably exaggerates the fallen—ness of the human race. Our condition really can’t be that bad. The Bible’s language is too harsh to be acceptable to people like us. This is a mistake with dire consequences. Because, when you reject the Bible’s diagnosis of the world’s condition and need, you naturally tamper with the Divine Remedy as well. By changing the one, you alter the other; and that is dangerous. In medicine as well as in other areas, a mistaken diagnosis has serious consequences. Some years ago an American tourist, a woman whom I knew, was involved in a car accident in a small Central American country. Both of her legs were injured, one of them seriously. Local doctors did the best they could. They took X—rays and put one of her legs in an enormous cast that reached from her knee down to her toes. The cast was as heavy as a boat’s anchor. As soon as the woman could be moved they put her on a plane and sent her home to Los Angeles, California. All the while she kept complaining about the terrible pain in the leg that did not have a cast. “It’s to be expected,“ the doctors told her. “That leg will heal on its own.“ When the California doctors examined her and took X—rays on better machines, they found that the previous diagnosis was mistaken and the cast had been placed on the wrong leg. Needless to say, by that time the leg that really required the cast had suffered further damage and needed extensive surgery. The point of the story is this: an incorrect diagnosis is a dangerous thing in any area affecting human health and well being. Worst of all is a mistaken diagnosis in spiritual matters. For that reason, I have to say to everyone: Be careful whom you listen to. Check everything by the Bible, the infallible Word of God. If what you hear doesn’t jibe with the Bible, leave it alone. A right understanding of salvation begins with an accurate knowledge of our spiritual condition. When we realize that by nature we are fallen sinners and cannot make ourselves right with God, we begin to realize how much we need the Savior Jesus Christ, and we cling heart and soul to Him.
The most sobering Diagnosis
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Ephesus. They were relatively new believers, and they had followed other religions for many years before turning to Christ. Paul describes their former spiritual condition in no uncertain terms. Let me read the first three verses slowly, so that the full weight of these powerful words will sink into our minds:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler (Satan) of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.“
What a stinging diagnosis the Bible gives of the previous condition of these early Christians! With the human nature they were born in, they were dead in their transgressions and sins…followers of Satan and members of his kingdom…people who continually gratified their sinful nature by their thoughts and actions…and (now, tremble at this) they were people who were by nature objects of (God’s) wrath. Stop to think about this. To live apart from God means spiritual death. To serve anything, or anyone, other than the one God who made us for his glory, means to serve the devil and be part of his kingdom. Living for pleasure and doing as you please, identifies you as an object of God’s wrath; and that’s a frightening position to be in.
The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, is many centuries old. It seems to have begun in Germany around the year 1284, and versions of it have appeared in many different languages. The story tells about a mysterious man who appeared in the town of Hamelin, wearing a coat of many colors, and claiming to be a rat catcher. He offered to rid the town of mice and rats for a certain sum of money. The town fathers were immediately interested, because Hamelin was overrun by the mean little creatures. They struck a deal with the Piper, promising to pay him a large sum of money if he rid the town of mice and rats. Just how bad was the situation in Hamelin? Listen to how Robert Browning, the great English poet, described it:
Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
and bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cook’s own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women’s chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
As the story goes, the strange little man in colorful clothes took a small fife from his pocket and began to blow on it. Rats and mice came running from all over town and gathered around him. Slowly he led them—thousands of them——to the river, where he pulled up his britches and walked on the water. The rats and mice all followed him, fell into the water, and drowned. The people of Hamelin town, especially its wealthy Mayor, were overjoyed over the town’s deliverance. They danced in the streets in celebration. But, sadly and without a reasonable excuse, the Mayor and councilmen refused to pay the Piper what they had promised for his services. The Piper went away bitter and angry, only to return some days later dressed differently and with a malignant expression on his face. Again, he walked through the streets playing his mysterious fife. But this time the Piper played a different tune, a tune that for some unknown reason drew the children, big and small, to follow him. He led them up a mountain, where he and the children disappeared into a cave and were never seen again. What mysterious tunes did the Piper play that first did good to the folks of Hamelin by ridding them of rats and mice; but later stole their children? Robert Browning described the people’s loss in these words:
Alas, alas for Hamelin!
There came into many a burgher’s pate
A text which says, that Heaven’s Gate
Opes to the Rich at as easy rate
As the needle’s eye takes a camel in!
The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South
To offer he Piper by word of mouth,
Wherever it was men’s lot to find him,
Silver and gold to his heart’s content,
If he’d only return the way he went
And bring the children behind him.
Just as the Pied Piper mysteriously led the children from their homes and ultimately to their destruction, Satan has lured people all through the years into lives of sin, misery, and ultimately, destruction. The process of deception begins with the false diagnosis of our spiritual condition apart from God’s saving grace in Christ Jesus.
Probably the most beautiful statement of a believer’s comfort in Christ is found at the beginning of a written summary of what we believe as Christians called the Heidelberg Catechism. It begins by asking the question, What is your only comfort in life and in death? And the answer is this:
That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. Beautiful words, rich in meaning beyond measure! But we must not separate these words of comfort, hope and security from the second question and answer of the Catechism: What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
The answer is, You must know three things:
First, how great my sin and misery are;
Second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;
Third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
The entire, wonderful message of salvation begins with the right diagnosis of the human condition, our sin and misery, and our lost condition apart from Christ. When that truth sinks in, we become deeply anxious for a Savior.
Scott Greenway
R. Scott Greenway was born in Mexico City in 1964, as the fourth child of missionary parents. He graduated from Calvin College in 1986, Calvin Theological Seminary in 1991, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2002. He and his wife Kelly (De Jonge) have four children. He pastored the Irving Park Christian Reformed Church in Midland Park New Jersey, and currently pastors the Caledonia CRC in Michigan. He enjoys a variety of outdoor sports including hunting and fishing.
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