The Best Things Corrupted

Corruptio Optima Pessima is a great latin phrase to help us understand the doctrines of Creation and Fall.  The term literally means, "the best things, when corrupted, become the worst."  All that God has created is good, yet tainted, because Satan is a Pervert.  He has no original Creative ability, however, he can confuse, distort, and pervert.

There is a common misconception both in our world and in the church that God and Satan are opposing forces with equal power battling it out until the end.  This worldview is referred to as dualism and is a popular worldview of many religions - the Eastern view of the Yin and Tang for example:  Good and Bad balance each other out in perfect harmony.  This view infiltrates our thinking and is seen in our culture in many ways.  Probably most pervasively and yet most subtly within the institution of marriage:  "Chet is a good mate - he balances me out."  "I am the disciplinarian and he is the softy."  We hear phrases like, "we need a balance of __________," or "everything in moderation."  Education institutions desire for students to be "balanced" and "whole."  They even say nice things like,  "we desire for our students to be balanced human beings:  Mind, Body, Soul, Family People, Citizens, etc., etc.."  This all sounds good, but my question is what or who is deciding (when all these things inevitably begin to compete with each other) what is Ultimate?  Our culture worships democracy (Monarchy is the preferred governmental institution in Scripture - more in a later post), but a democracy breaks down when there is a tie and nothing or no one to have the casting vote.  We say that we have three branches of Government for checks and balances, but in reality in all comes back to the Constitution - an Ultimate Authority.

We see dualism (The Pendulum Swing) in our cultures view of health, nutrition, and wellness.  Americans continually trade one form of idolatry (gluttony) for another (dieting).  When was the last time anyone chastised someone in our culture for being obsessed with fitness?  We see this in how we view the environment.  As much as I agree with Good Stewardship if you are not "going green" you are not righteous and you may be a redneck.  (Jeff Foxworthy analogy if you didn't get that)  Dualistic thinking has an appearance of harmony, but leads ultimately to division.

So, why does this all matter?  It matters in the sense that we embrace Ultimate Reality.  The Scriptures are clear that God is Sovereign over all.  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."  God created all things, and when they are under His Lordship they are the best, the sweetest, but when corrupted by Satan they become the worst.  The Lordship of Jesus is our only Saving Grace.