Sabbatical from Sin

It has been an interesting few (several) months – I haven’t had (made) time to continue my studies and writings on sin…but I’ve continued to be engaged by the topic.

I have discovered through many conversations, with many wonderful people, that without sin - Christianity is dead! (note my tongue-in-cheek reference to James) I find this concept fascinating…people can’t fathom a faith that is not based and steeped in the total depravity of man! A faith that doesn’t hinge on sin. Don’t get me wrong – I believe that sin is a topic that needs to be discussed – but not be the lynch pin of our faith! That is the place that is reserved for G_d.

What would it look like if we were truly satisfied with a faith that hinged on love, mercy, and justice.

Sin is indeed a reality but LOVE is the propellant that should compel us towards G_d. A place where there is healing, hope, and wholeness. We don’t NEED sin to see that a life rooted in the Justice of G_d is a better way to live.

It has been an interesting stretch of conversations – covering the landscapes of doctrine and denominations – that has led me to see that we’ve taken our eyes off G_d and set our attention squarely on a theology of sin – a sinology if you will!

May we begin to see the value of love, mercy, and compassion as the fuel of our faith – and leave sin alone!

Oh No He Di’int!

Ok so we’ve laid some groundwork for the discussion…and have had some great feedback! I want to change gears for a moment and open a can of worms and insert a disclaimer **This post may ruffle your theological feathers – you may find yourself at complete odds with what is going to be asked – defensive and accusatory! Please respond with grace and love – and most of all don’t presume you know where other people are on these questions!**

Ok – let’s just jump in!

Why did Jesus die on the cross?

• To forgive our sins?
• Consider Jesus forgave sins before his death and resurrection (ie. – Mark 2.1-13)
• G_d forgave Israel’s sins before Jesus ever walked the earth (ie. – Isaiah 43.25)
• To overcome death?
• Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead! (John 11)
• Elijah never dies (2 Kings 2)
• Enoch never dies (Gen 5.24)
• Moses and Elijah appear at transfiguration (Mk. 9)
• Jesus argues against the Sadducees that the G_d of Israel is the G_d of the living  (Mk. 12)
• Fulfill the sacrificial system?
• G_d has alread had enough of the sacrificial system according to Isaiah (1.11)
• Psalm 51 [esp. 16,17] **(this Psalm actually also demonstrates a sense that G_d is also forgiving sins before Jesus)
• Hosea 6.6
• The apostles continued to go to the Temple Service daily (Lk. 24.50-53)

So if Jesus had to die and be raised in order for us to be declared righteous in the eyes of G_d – How did Abraham accomplish this? How did David?

It is important for us to remember that there are other passages in the Text that we must wrestle with (or maybe you feel that I must wrestle with) but we must wrestle with these as well! I have many thoughts on this subject and what I perceive to be a biblically sound concept – but I don’t want to color the conversation until I’ve had time to hear each of your reflective thoughts!

I’d also really like our discussion to remain (however loosely) around thoughts on sin! (forgiveness of sins – that’s easy; Death – Paul says the wages of sin is death; Sacrificial system – based on unintentional sins for individuals and corporately)

Thanks! Let’s have some good and fun discussions!

Up the Creek…

 

What is our definition of sin? Where did it come from? Why are we unable to avoid it? Can we even overcome it?

When we think of sin it is usually in the context of action [profanity/lying/adultery] but what if it is more than just that? Maybe the phrase “more” is not completely accurate…but what if sin is something that actually precedes the action?

Growing up I found the concept of sin that was taught to me to be oppressive! A constant fear looming over my shoulder – something that waited crouched at my door! But I was also taught that it was manageable…I am not sure how I came to the conclusions that I did but I started to believe that sin was conquerable – but until then it had me in its grasp…but with a few slick techniques I could be free! I read books on overcoming sin, avoiding sin –> defeating bad behavior and actions ~ I read them over and over but with no success.

It dawned on me, “What if the ‘action’ wasn’t the sin rather it was a result of the sin?” – a symptom of sin but not the disease itself. We’ve spent so much time focusing on the actions - “Dead Bodies” and have completely ignored the process that leads up to it!

Let me explain the “Dead Bodies” statement: Many of us have heard the analogy of Upstream Thinking – It goes something like this [warning: bad paraphrase coming]:

Two people come to the edge of a stream and are immediately confronted with dead bodies floating by. They begin to remove the bodies from the stream – but the bodies keep coming – the rate doesn’t change and the work doesn’t end…finally one of the two people says, “You stay here and continue pulling the bodies from the river, I’m going upstream to find out how the dead bodies are getting here!”

This story is usually used when discussing the value of prevention versus treatment…but could we use this analogy for sin? We are identifying that there are “dead bodies” [read::our actions] in the stream(s) of our life and we call that ‘sin’ that must be removed – but what if sin goes further upstream…sin is the cause of the “dead bodies” in the stream.

What caused the “dead bodies” to be in the stream in the first place – can we call this sin? What would we find is “up the creek”?

A Thought on Sin

This is a page where I am looking to begin an ongoing dialogue (or very possibly - monologue) about the topic of Falling Short (Romans 3.23) about fair wages (Romans 6.23) in regards to our life and relationship to G_d.

We've reduced sin to a single analogy in our current church settings; that of debt...I want to suggest that first we must consider a biblical understanding of debt (Leviticus 25) and its forgiveness (Matthew 18.21-35) - and how that affects the way that we treat those indebted to us (Matthew 6.9-15). In addition to a biblical lens for debt - I also want to look at other analogies used within the Text to imagine sin (ie. a burden to be carried - 1 Peter 2.24; Isaiah 43.24b-25).

We would not consider allowing our understanding of G_d to be wrapped up in one analogy - we need multiple (shepherd, father, creator, strong-tower, mother hen, etc...) images in order to begin to piece together who He is! Therefore I assert that when we discuss a topic such as sin that we do not allow ourselves to be duped into thinking we have a full understanding because of a single analogy (most usually that of debt)...

I am looking to use biblical Texts to challenge and expand our current Theology of Sin; I am hoping for healthy/civil/intelligent debate and discussion on this topic...please join me in this discussion - the future hope is that of a book or essay on the topic.