When I was young, I spent many Saturday mornings watching cartoons.
It was a weekly ritual involving animated stories, cereal, and pajamas.
I remember a universal idea being illustrated in quite a few of my favorite cartoons.
It goes like this, a character has an ethical decision to make, an angel appears on one of the character’s shoulders prompting a moral response. On the other shoulder a devil appears to tempt the character into a diabolical choice. Both are presented with apparently equal influence.
In a cartoon, it’s usually a humorous presentation.
In real life, this is a reminder of the power in our choices. In fact, great novels, award winning movies, and ancient mythology all explore some version of his idea.
The reason this idea is timeless is because it’s true.
Not literally of course. There isn’t an angel or demon on your shoulder.
But all of us struggle with moral issues,
In scripture, a man named Paul, who once hated and terrorized Christians, but later became a Christian describes the struggle like this…
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me…
I often refer to this section of scripture as the “Do Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Do” section. Because if you read it fast it’s like a song or tongue twister. It’s a little confusing to read but it speaks absolute truth.
We are complicated creations.
On one hand, we are made in the image of God, we instinctively know right from wrong, and we generally want to do the right thing. On the other hand, all of us have a selfish side, a side that will manipulate to get what we want, a side that goes against what we know is right. The Bible calls this our sinful nature. You may describe it differently, but it’s hard to deny its existence.
So, in a way, the angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other makes some sense.
But we don’t have to live this way.
There are philosophies, religions, and belief systems dedicated to making us better people. However, I believe Christianity is unique in its ability to change our inner bent towards self-centeredness. In Christ, God was reconciling us to Himself, in Christ, there is mercy for us all, in Christ, we become new creations.
It’s as if the angel moves from your shoulder into your heart and the little devil loses his right to hang around. You will still have the freedom to choose, but God makes it a lopsided showdown.
God offers love, acceptance, forgiveness, purpose, peace, and the power to be made new.
That’s an easy choice.
-Tom Wise
