Does the Pure Planet Really Exist?

Once in a while, you think to yourself, are the members of the Pure Planet really that good? You’re sure they are, but then you have an unpleasant encounter with them, and you get to wondering. The one who has set the record for most souls witnessed to treats your rudely. The girl who sings in the praise band breaks your heart—and it’s because you’re not cool enough for her. The pastor shows a sign—just a hint—of being upset over response to his decision-making. You see all this, and you lose breath for a moment. Did that Pure Planet resident just do that?

And so you confront that person in their sin, and you find that far from receiving your rebuke, the so-called Pure Person fights you off. They deny wrongdoing and make you feel ashamed for bringing up the offense. A bit disillusioned, you walk away. Perhaps they’re a 90% resident of the Pure Planet, not 95%. Or, you think for a fleeting moment, they’re a sinner just like me, and their best is mixed with their worst. Then the thought passes.

The “poison-pill” division shares some blame for the shock we feel in such situations. I’ve labored it a bit for a reason: to show its bankruptcy. Unlike some would have us to believe, we are constantly sinning, whether we know it or not. We’re not simply sinning when we lust or swear or get drunk (the really putrefied stuff). We’re sinning more than we can ever know, in my biblically informed guess. We’re sinning in our best moments and our worst. Think about it—as long as we live on this earth, we’re never worshipping God as we ought. That’s the whole deal with heaven—when we go there, we do worship God as we ought. Here, however, our thoughts are “only evil continually,” according to Genesis 6:5. Due to sin, I’m quite sure that we often fail to sense what is bad in us. Often we do. But often we don’t. I am of the opinion put forth by Martin Luther that we are living out our wretchedness by the minute, by the second, not by the day or week. We’re evil beings, folks. Redeemed, but under the curse. And thinking that we can separate ourselves from this condition, even in a partial way, is not helpful. Sadly, we are continually swallowing poison-pills, whether we watch R-rated movies or not.