I recently read about an experiment conducted on French TV. The subjects, believing they were contestants on a reality TV show, were instructed to administer shocks to a man seated in an electric chair, whenever the man in the chair made a mistake. Although there was no real electricity, the man in the chair (an actor) would shake, and writhe, and cry out in pain whenever a “shock” was given. The audience, also actors, would laugh and cheer. Remember, the subjects of the experiment had no idea that this was fake. They really believed they were giving electric shocks to another human being. (For details, see below.)
The object was to see how far the subjects would go. Would they really torture another human being? Would they take it even to the point of apparently causing that person’s death?
Eighty percent of the subjects administered the shocks, despite their victim’s screaming, some to the point that they believed they had caused the victim’s death.
Unbelievable?
The amazing thing about life on planet earth is not that people do cruel things to one another. As this experiment and many others like it prove, the savagery of human nature lies close beneath the surface. Just ask six-million Jews who suffered the Holocaust. Just ask millions of Iraqis who lived under Saddam. Just ask Jesus.
It took so little for the cries of the crowd to change from “Hosanna,” which means “save us,” to “Crucify him.” Jesus wasn’t surprised. He knew before he was even born. That’s why he came. To save us from our own sinful nature. To save us from ourselves.
I know that it’s fashionable to believe that people are basically good, but that our environment and upbringing draws us into sin. Rubbish! Since when has anyone had to teach a child to be selfish, defiant, or cruel? The truth is that we’re all born with a propensity to do evil. It’s only God’s grace that restrains us and the world from living it out. Those terrible moments of cruelty in human history (and there are so many) are glimpses of what life would be for all of us if God stepped back, turned away, and left us to our own devices.
But God didn’t do that. Jesus came to give us a better chance, to give us hope of a new life, and the promise of redemption for all eternity.
All of this reminds me that it’s not just other people who need Jesus. I need him too. “Lord, thank you for giving me hope of being a better man than I can possibly be on my own. Forgive me when my sinful nature breaks through into my thoughts and actions. Help me, every day, to become more and more like Jesus. Amen.”
