I always tie everything that we do back to our lack of understanding of the depth of our sin, Dan. When you say that believers will defend the system because they feel that it does a lot of good, what you're really getting at is that we can somehow manage the sin in our lives rather than confess it and turn it over to the One who paid for it all. In today's church, the prevailing attitude is that we only need Jesus to fill in on those rare occasions where we slip up. This runs counter to "the good old days" where preaching was all hellfire and brimstone. Neither of these is a correct view of the Gospel. Preaching that God just wants to destroy you if even your toe crosses the line fails to show mercy and grace. Preaching that God is somehow a buddy who covers our tracks speaks to how we think that we can save ourselves. Either is a form of self-righteousness that is not supported in Scripture.