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Many Christians have seen that the further they ascend in holiness, the more they realize how far they have to go. Nineteenth-century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle contends, "The more light we have, the more we shall see our own imperfection." Theologian F. B. Meyer asserts, "The nearer we live to God, the more sensitive we become to the presence of sin." C. S. Lewis argues that the holier a man is, the more he is aware of his sinfulness.

In The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges puts it this way: We may advance in the practice of holiness, but our knowledge of the perfect holiness to which we are called (1 Pet. 1:15-16) increases at a faster rate, so that there is an ever-widening gap between the two.

American Christians often have a hard time coming to terms with this gulf, this ever-increasing loss of control; there must be a way to relieve the tension. Yet spiritual maturation is the humbling and Christ-exalting process of realizing that the Cross fills this expanding gap—that the Cross is ever so much bigger than you first imagined!

In the evangelical tradition, we've sometimes thought of sin as a problem for the lost. Unbelievers need to come to Christ for forgiveness of sins. But the troubling truth is that sin is our problem, too. The Scriptures clearly show that Christians commit sin. That's why we need a pattern of daily confession (Matt. 6:9-13); that's why John taught that to say we do not sin is simply lying (1 John 1:8); that's why James urged believers to confess their sins to one another (James 5:16). What's more, the most prominent saints in the Bible—Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, Peter, et al.—stumbled in sin again and again.

This, of course, is not to encourage sin but to help us face the facts: Authentic followers of Christ are sinners until the day they die, and the more authentic Christians further up the slope are the ones who are beginning to realize the distance between their holiness and the perfection of Christ.

The way forward for Western and other imperfect Christians is the path of humility and brokenness. Of course, humility and brokenness don't sell very well from the pulpit, not to mention in our society. But that's irrelevant. What matters is that the Lord, in his sovereign ingenuity, wills to teach us trust and humble dependence by bringing us through hardship; trials represent the roundabout, yet only true way toward spiritual maturation. And the Lord includes among these hardships the spiritual turmoil suffered by forgiven sinners who become painfully aware they are far from the peak of holiness.

Are humility and honest confession characteristic of our churches? Not much of the time. Increasingly common is the self-assured, goal-oriented, achievement-driven, human-centered outlook. What would the evangelistic impact be if the popular profile of today's Christian emphasized sin and brokenness, if we just went public and admitted it: "This is who we are, prone to wander, slow to learn, still in process, far from having 'arrived,' grateful for mercy … so don't expect anything else."

Such honesty could go a long way in reforming the "holier than thou" image Christians have in the minds of many. Those who stay away from the church because they think the saints are so saintly might see the truth and feel more welcome to come into the hospital with the other invalids and seek the Great Physician's care. The hypocrisy factor that repels many could be reversed, and a countercultural Christian honesty would send a shocking message to our highly politicized, cynical society, in which almost no one can be trusted and image is everything.

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September 2005, Vol. 49, No. 9