The Error of Earl

Many of us have probably caught an episode or two of "My Name is Earl." Though short-lived, it garnered quite a following in its 4 seasons. Juliet and I originally caught it on Netflix, and watched through the entirety of the show. I'll admit, it's got some funny moments.

The premise begins when the main character, Earl Hickey, is hit by a car after winning the lotto. He had done nothing but bad things up to that point in his life. When he recovers, he decides he is going to make up for all the bad things he had done prior to his lotto win. He makes a list, and begins his quest to right the many wrongs which he had previously committed. Now, the idea of someone getting a large sum of money and going around doing good things for people is a great concept to our minds on the surface. But, one element of the focus of Earl's quest stands out to me as incorrect. I'd like to explore what I will call, "The Error of Earl."

If we took a quick poll of our immediate family and friends and asked them, "what is the greatest thing someone can do in this life,"  I'd put money that "helping others," would be the top answer. Our world's morality system, and truthfully an element of God's morality system, is focused on helping those who cannot help themselves. Christ taught that whatever we do for the least of our brethren, we do for him. This concept in and of itself is not a bad concept.

In the show, Earl begins seeking answers from what he believes "Karma" would want him to do. "Karma," in the case of the show becomes his driving force for what he does or does not do. And, as many episodes will attest, Karma is often a fickle mistress to him.

The eastern religions and faith systems of our day like Buddhism and Hinduism also contain an element of this idea of Karma. Do good things and good things will happen; do bad things and bad things will happen. It has become a throw away word in our culture where every celebrity who contributes to a cause is doing it because "it's good karma." Christians do not rely on a system of good versus bad deeds, but rather cling to the cross of Christ. Why do we do what others do not? Because Christ's teaching about the nature of God and morality and truth shows a much different worldview than that proposed by man-made religious systems.

It is true that within Buddhism and Hinduism (and many other religions) there is not an exact element of  "salvation,"as there is with Christianity. This is likely due to the fact that these religions are reliant totally on the individual to achieve something. Whether enlightenment, Nirvana, good karma, etc... something is being sought after by the individual, by their own actions. Again, the idea of doing good things is not inherently bad. As we see often in the show, Earl's good actions often produce positive results. The intention of the heart becomes the issue when good deeds are simply measured against a subjective standard of "good."

The problem within these religions is that they are simply that: Religions. Religion will say "do this or do that," but Christ says "It's done." Within the context of Christianity there is an exclusive claim made by Christ which sets it apart from other faith systems of the world. Christ says humans are not inherently "good." Just as the Bible mentioned plenty of times prior to Christ, man has a disease: Sin. From the first act against our Creator in the garden, to even the most basic failure we may have today, mankind has issues. Christ tells us that in and of ourselves, we (as diseased creatures) cannot bring about our own cure.

In the show, Earl is constantly seeking what he thinks will restore his Karma balance and put him back in a state of happiness and fulfillment. His actions mirror similar thought processes found within the major Eastern Religions.

Buddhism and other systems like it will say if you balance the amount of good and  bad, you can achieve some state of happiness or comfort within the world. Islam has a similar concept in that if you adhere to its tenants (5 pillars of Islam) you can achieve favor with the one God (Allah). Even Judaism in its current form relies on some form of good works to earn favor with God. God allowed for a time in ancient Judaism a system of sacrifices and laws meant to temporarily cover the sin (disease) of the people. Like all others since Adam, the Jewish people were dealing with the exact same "sin problem." God laid out laws and order for them as a precursor to what Christ would ultimately achieve on the cross. The sacrificial system of "doing" was a means of showing that no matter how much they "did," they could never be fully reconciled to God. This is a lesson Earl could take to heart. He is exhausting himself trying to figure out what "Karma" wants him to do, but never stops to think what God would want him to do. And, though small, there are elements of the faith within the show demonstrated in some minor characters. He is not "without knowledge" of at least the basic idea of one God. His view of God is quite misguided, but he does imply through some conversations that he believes God to exist in some form. Personally, I think his constant appeals to Karma demonstrate he is more inclined to let her be his god, than to seek any sort of Biblical understanding of God. Oddly in one episode a tornado hits their town and a Bible is seen passing through the hands of many of the characters. None of them seem to understand the truth held within, and see it more as a "sign" of good karma, or that God is with them in their endeavors. Again, a misguided view.

Now, someone can (and probably will) say that within the context of Buddhism and other works based religious systems that God is not always something in which they believe. That is true. Buddhism is fairly atheistic in its thinking, and does not believe in a higher power other than one's self. Hinduism has millions of gods, and people pick and choose the ones that fit best with how they want to live. The pattern that emerges here is that people are trying to do something or achieve something outside of their Creator. It is really a rather bleak worldview at its heart. With Buddhism, the ultimate goal of Nirvana is essentially a state of emptiness and nothingness. Where is the hope in that? Though the culture will argue with me on this one, Christianity is set apart from these other systems in that Christ says there is only one cure for our sin disease. His sacrifice.

Sadly, most people are not aware that they even have a problem. They will compare laterally themselves to the works of others. Maybe they say something like, "well I don't murder people so I'm better than that guy." But, God's standard of morality and truth is much higher than simply do not murder. God's standard says that in our current state, we cannot be in fellowship with Him. God does not compare us laterally, but sets an objective standard by which all are measured. That standard is perfectly just and righteous, as God's nature is perfect justice and righteousness.

Now, Christ was there at the beginning of creation with God (2nd part of Triune God- John 1:1), and would acknowledge that perfect fellowship with our Creator is what this world was meant for in the first place. We were created for perfect fellowship with our Creator and are now fallen away from that original intent. There's a reason bad things happen within the world. As Paul says in Romans 8:22, creation is groaning like a woman in labor pains under the curse of sin. But, the hope of the Christian is that once in Christ, we have no more condemnation. Our disease is cured and the debt we owe to a Holy and perfect God is paid in full.

No other world religion or value system has this element, and it is why Christianity is exclusive in its belief. We cannot earn or do anything ourselves to earn favor, happiness, good karma, or whatever else people seek. The common things we enjoy like a good meal or quality time with family are a product of God's common grace extended to both believers and unbelievers. It is a grace separate from the saving grace that Christ says is required for an eternal fellowship with God (John 8:24). If people realized just how amazing that fellowship will be, they'd likely dump the works based religions and lean fully on Christ for their salvation and perfection. Because, God promises us a world restored and renewed. Yes, it's not on this side of the curtain…not completely anyway, but the great hope for us as Christians is the eventual fulfillment of all Christ came to do for us on the cross, which includes a restored creation.

My concern for both Christians and non-Christians these days is that our culture has become too accustomed to these works- based ways of thinking. Even within certain Christian denominations and circles, an element of works is present. The Catholic church still tells people that by somehow doing enough "hail Marys" and other forms of penance, they will keep their forgiveness secure. This is simply man trying to impose control where he truthfully has none. As John puts it in his first epistle,

"if we confess our sins, he (Christ) is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Paul and James write that good deeds and works are a product of faith in Christ, not the means by which we earn salvation in Christ. They do not justify us. Only the cross could do that. Nothing but the flawless, sacrificial lamb (Christ) could atone for the world's sin problem. But, Christians are called to bear good fruit. In Christ we become a new creation and the old passes away (2 Corinthians 5:13). A result of this is the desire to do good, but the good we do is simply a sign that we are new within Christ. It is not done to achieve something because we are already justified within Christ by our faith in Christ.

Now, we will not be perfect on this side of Heaven that is true, but we now have no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1). If we earnestly repent then He is faithful and just to forgive us. No other world religion offers forgiveness of sin by simple mercy and grace. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, etc… will tell people that they are basically good, and that the more good deeds they achieve in this life, the better. This is Earl's line of thinking in the show. He tries to make up for his wrongdoing (his sin) by simply righting the wrongs with the people he mistreated. He never addresses his inherent capacity to have done the bad things in the first place. He believes that by doing good deeds, he can earn his way back into favor with the universe or Karma or whatever.

But, consider this. Even the most devout Buddhist, the one who achieves so called Nirvana, is still in a system of belief that believes he will simply be reincarnated in a never ending circle of new lives. Is there hope in that? It sounds terrible. What if, right before death, that Buddhist somehow fell short of his own standard. By his own belief, there is then a chance he will be reincarnated as a lesser life form, no matter how far along he was before. Hindu's have the same concept of death and rebirth, and it has led to the atrocious "Caste" system in India and other places, whereby the individual's place in society is directly related to how good their past life was. Do people even remember these past lives? How can someone be held accountable for something they technically never even did. It is flawed, and leads to some poor treatment of the very people the religion of Hinduism says it should be helping. It is contradictory within itself.

In death there is no opportunity to balance out good and bad karma, so they simply have to hope that prior to death, their good outweighs their bad. Unfortunately for them, any good deeds done outside of faith in Christ will mean nothing on that side of the curtain (Hebrews 9:27; Daniel 12:2). Juliet and I believe in Christ because we acknowledge our failure to live up to God's objective standard. We understand that there is no other name under Heaven by which men can be saved (Acts 4:12). Gandhi, the Buddha, and all of the other great minds of the past, had one essential truth missing. They did not trust Christ to eliminate their sinful nature. They were stuck in a system of reliance on self. Had they looked to Christ, as the Bible shows him (I realize some Christians can give Christ a bad name), they would see that his burden is easy.

"Come unto me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29

Constantly trying to outweigh our good and our bad must be a truly wearisome effort. Earl learns throughout the season of the show just how complicated living by Karma's rule can be. He does not always see a direct benefit from his good because there is no objective standard to what is "good" outside of God's standard. Karma is an incredibibly subjective concept. Who is to say that what he did or did not do is good or bad in that system of belief?  I'm sure a show in which Earl's first act was to put faith in Christ and have his past bad deeds forgotten as far as east is from west would have made for low ratings (Psalm 103:12). For Earl; however, it would have made his life instantly more fulfilled, and justified him before a Holy and Just creator whose requirement is faith in the sacrifice he made on the cross.

There is a slippery slope these days within Christianity. Christians, desiring to please man over God, are beginning to implement eastern religious practices and elements into their Christianity. While the Bible does not outwardly condemn practices like meditation (emptying of self) and yoga (whose positions are designed to honor specific Hindu deities), it does warn us of becoming too much like the world. Christianity is exclusive because Christ said it is the only way (John 14:6). Christians did not make this up, it is God's truth, stated numerous times by Christ.

We can always do more to help our fellow brethren, and truly mature Christians are called to go above and beyond. But, there is a wide gap between helping out of our desire to help as Christ would have done, and helping because we have a worldview that tells us the more good we do, the better we are. There is something inherently prideful about a good deed done outside of Christ, because it will always give a sense of satisfaction with oneself. The only selfless good deed would be that done as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with no attempt to earn favor with God from it. Though often taken out of context, James does hit on something when he says that faith without works is dead. The church has taken a lot of liberty with that verse to try to argue that there is some need for works to earn our salvation. But, when compared with similar texts from Paul's teaching, we see it lines up nicely with the idea that works are a result of being a new creation after being justified in Christ by our faith in Christ.

I am probably guilty of not doing enough as an outpouring of my belief in Christ, so I will resolve to bear more fruit from this point on. But, I know in my heart, that my eternal destination is not in any way a product of what I do or do not do here on earth, outside of putting faith in the only one who can reconcile me to fellowship with my creator: Christ Jesus.