Does Anyone Believe in Sin Anymore?

           

A member of Cross~Wind UMC gave me an article with the title, “Does Anyone Believe in Sin Anymore?” It refers to the idea of updating the traditional “seven deadly sins,” namely, pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. They derive from Pope Gregory in the 500s AD. The article refers to Bishop Gianfranco Girotti as thinking of modern behaviors that can adversely affect people, such as drug abuse, pollution, contributing to the widening divide between rich and poor, excessive wealth, and creating poverty. He refers to the Ten Commandments, but also, one offends God by wrecking the environment, carrying out morally debatable experiments, and so on. The article refers to Mahatma Ghandi drawing up a list of the seven blunders of the world, for the seven deadly social sins, of wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality, and worship without sacrifice. Arun, his grandson, added number eight, rights without responsibilities.

            A survey (http://www.greymatterresearch.com/index_files/Sin.htm) of Americans listed several possibilities and asked whether they considered them sins. 

The behaviors a majority of all Americans describe as sinful are: 

· Adultery  8

· Racism  74%

· Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.  65%

· Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back  63%

· Having an abortion  56%

· Homosexual activity or sex  52%

· Not reporting some income on your tax returns  52% 

A number of other behaviors are considered sinful by a significant portion of all Americans, although not a majority.  These are: 

· Reading or watching pornography  50%

· Gossip  47%

· Swearing  46%

· Sex before marriage  45%

· Homosexual thoughts  44%

· Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to  43%

· Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment  41%

· Smoking marijuana  41%

· Getting drunk  41%

· Not taking proper care of your body  35% 

Then there are behaviors that fewer than one-third of all Americans see as sinful: 

· Gambling  30%

· Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings  29%

· Using tobacco  23%

· Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis  18%

· Playing the lottery  18%

· Watching an R-rated movie  18%

· Being significantly overweight  17%

· Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity  16%

· Drinking any alcohol  14%

· Working on Sunday/the Sabbath  14%

· Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves  7%

· Making a lot of money  4%

· Dancing  4% 

            I wonder, however, if the problem is not failure to believe in sin, but failure to envision the possibility of redemption.

            It gratifies me that so many Americans think of racism as a sin. For the percentage to be that high, regardless of political affiliation, racism is sinful.

            Parker Rice and Levi Pettit were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. The video of their racist sing-a-long gained much press in the early part of 2015. Eventually, the President of the school expelled them, he shut down the fraternity, and the fraternity itself would go through a nationwide examination. Given the circumstances, all of this may well be the best path of action. I do not know the individuals involved, so I am not passing on evaluation of their actions.

            However, I find it striking that Isaac Hill, the president of the Black Student Association at the University told Megyn Kelly that people should forgive the students. His counsel was to fight hate with the power love. Cal Thomas, columnist, was quite right to suggest that the goal of actions by fellow students and especially by the university should have been redemption. Redemption is a harder path to travel, but the destination is to change the thinking of the students.

In her article, "The Power of Forgiveness: Why Revenge Doesn't Work," Dr. Judith Orloff writes: "...revenge reduces you to your worst self, puts you on the same level with those spiteful people we claim to abhor."

Now, let us step back and consider a larger issue.

Yes, America has its faults and sins. They flow from its history of connection to Europe. Most of us can list them. Slavery and treatment of the Native American would rate high on the list. Critics will implicate Christianity and white people in these sins.

Such imperfections are there. No one can erase it from the history.

What would redemption look like?

Maybe you would have preachers throughout the country, known as abolitionists, encourage America to abolish slavery. Maybe you would fight a war at great cost in human lives to remove it, and maybe you would work tirelessly for another 100 years to remove racism from any form of respectability. An avowed racist could not receive a majority anywhere in this country.

Yet, the path of revenge will lead to your worst self. You might become like the people you hate. It might lead to riots and violence in the streets, destroying the businesses your community needs to make progress. It might lead to harming relationships with the police, the people you need to protect you from those in the community who wish harm.

Many Americans are quick to label almost anything a “sin,” even if they do not use the word. For some people, the only path to redemption is to agree with them.

What Failure Can Teach

This country has learned some of its greatest lessons through failure and struggle.

‚          Why is it that we look back at the leanest, cruelest years of the Great Depression and see in them the time of greatest strength in our communities and families?

‚          Why is it that we recall our single greatest naval defeat, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and see exhibited in it the greatest spirit and loyalty of this nation?

‚          Why is it that we remember the darkest, most evil years of legalized segregation, discrimination and Jim Crow and see in them the greatest demonstrations of love, commitment, bravery and selflessness among the Civil Rights workers?

‚          Why is it that we made a movie to re-live the tension and the helplessness of watching a crippled Apollo 13 hobble slowly back to Earth, and see in it the prayers and the hopes of the whole country?

            Some people want to suggest that some failures are in our DNA. If so, we could do nothing about them. Fortunately, we do not have to repeat the failures of our past.

            To refer to a sports analogy, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll and Bill Walsh accounted for nine of the 15 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1989.  What else do they have in common?  They also boasted the worst records of first-season head coaches in NFL history.

            Here is a bit of wisdom from Theodore Roosevelt:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

            Cardinal Newman, in the last year of his life, wrote in his journal, "Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."

            I came across the following advice when it comes to failure. 1) Get back on your feet.  Mike Singletary of the Chicago Bears, a linebacker, had the knack of making the tackle even when someone initially blocked him out of the play.  The way he did it was by getting up quickly after someone knocked him down the first time.  2) Take a break.  Most defeats are not earth-shattering.  Reduce tension by doing something fun for a while.  3) Find a friend to whom you can talk.  When you feel discouraged, keep in mind that God is still sovereign and people will do what they want to do. 

            Christians can learn to forgive themselves and others, and even the nation in which they live. They do not have to be afraid to lead "error embracing" lives.  We have to know when it is time to blow the dust off (read Mark 6:11), roll up our sleeves and start working; and when it is time to shake the dust off, redirect our energies and go on our way.

October 19-25 2014

This week, the question “What inspired me this week” is what will guide my reflections. 

Men of Integrity magazine had a set of reflections this week from Rick Bezet, Be Real; Because Fake is Exhausting. The theme was forgiveness. Its basis was Matthew 18:21ff, where Jesus tells a parable about one person who the king forgave a large debt and the person then not giving the small debt owed by another servant. He discussed myths of forgiveness. Although forgiveness is an essential part of restoring a relationship, it is not sufficient to heal a broken relationship. Failure to forgive will lead to bitterness and sarcasm coming out an inappropriate times. It can also lead to a failure to mature, because one gets stuck in terms of personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. Forgiveness leads to freedom. What struck me this time was that we, who sin against God and have the assurance of forgiveness from God, will not forgive others who do something wrong to us. The discussion on this led me to think of the importance of developing a forgiving way of life or spirit.

            My physical health continues improving in terms of my right shoulder. It still hurts. I have continued with P90x2 yoga and cardio, the total gym, and some time at Anytime Fitness.  

            On a personal note, we saw a movie (Suzanne’s fault) Best of Me, the worst movie I have seen in my life. However, I balanced that with Gone Girl, likely the best movie I have seen in a long time. If you like crime thriller’s, this one is excellent. One inspiring thought was the exchange between two officers. One says that often the simplest answer is the answer. The other responds that she has never found that to be true. The simplest answer was decidedly not the correct answer in this movie. The Book Thief was inspiring in that it showed life in Nazi Germany from the perspective some average Germans. It was slow and a little depressing, but it ended well. It had some interesting insights in the voice-over from “Death,” who encouraged us to relax when our times comes. We also completed watching Bones, season 9, which had a wonderful and surprising final episode. What I find inspiring here is the relationship between Bones and Booth, two people who are so different, and yet have such profound love and respect for each other.

Here is a picture of two beloved members of the household.

            Worship was inspiring for me, and I hope for others as well. Music was wonderful in both services. Good response throughout the morning. Think Orange was wonderful, as was the Youth Small Group in the evening. I worked on the sermon plan for November and December, and that always is an inspiring time. The Finance Committee was longer than normal. Many matters to discuss. Triple S is always inspiring to me, this time s we worked out way through John 6. We had a few computer issues to consider this week. I spent some time reflecting on my appointment form. I also filled out a willingness to serve form on the Annual Conference web site to be a delegate to General Conference. In terms of personal study, I have been working my way through Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth a second time, focused on III.2/3. Although this is not easy, I find it inspiring. I found III.2 to be a masterpiece of how to do a theological anthropology, combining sharp biblical insights with a good reading of psychology and philosophical anthropology. His discussion of providence in III.3 is also inspiring, stressing the parental care of God, that we are always in the friendly hands of God, even when it does not look like it.

What is Forgiveness

What is forgiveness?

            In their book The Faces of Forgiveness, LeRon Shults and Steven Sandage discuss an introducing facial hermeneutics. The face represents a powerful interpersonal text that evokes an attempt to interpret the feelings and dispositions of the other. Yes, they refer to the human face, but they also make up a verb, “facing,” that is, encountering and confronting the presence of other. Sandage, the psychological part of these writers, discusses matters like losing face and de-facing in that context. Shults discusses the biblical notions of the face of God and the human face. This book delves into the biblical concept of 'facing' reflecting the face of God to other people through your own face. And, this book stresses the need to forgive in the redemptive power that is found in community.

When they discuss forgiveness, they identify at least three different ways that we can define it. One definition is “forensic” or “legal” forgiveness — the kind that your insurance company wants to give you, or the kind that involves having a debt erased. This kind of forgiveness is a “transaction … in which one party agrees not to exact what the law requires.” This kind of forgiveness is situational and may be limited to one particular incident. The problem here is that it does not invite one into relational matters like justice and making peace. As human beings, we do not simply long for such forgiveness, that might one day pay off, but has no effect here.

A second definition of forgiveness connects it with a therapeutic benefit. Forgiveness in this sense is a process by which the offended party is motivated to become “less vengeful and avoidant and more benevolent” toward the wrongdoer. Forgiveness in this context does not condone the offense or forget about it. Forgiveness is about releasing claim over the offender and moving forward in another direction. This kind of forgiveness, like the legal definition, is also limited. It does not necessarily bring about reconciliation and restoration of a broken relationship.

A third definition is redemptive forgiveness. Forgiveness is about inviting people in the here and now into joyful, infinite life and glory of the Father, Son and Spirit, that is, into a community of infinite love. It's incarnate, unending grace. Redemptive forgiveness is when "a party agrees not to exact what the law requires" (pg. 20). Therapeutic forgiveness is a moral judgment that an offender is responsible for harmful actions, surveying the damage done by the hurtful actions and eventually remembering it differently (pg. 22). Redemptive forgiveness includes both forensic and therapeutic forgiveness but the "overarching meaning of [redemptive] forgiveness is manifesting and sharing redemptive grace" (pg. 23).

Shults writes, "I suggest that the overarching meaning of forgiveness in Scripture is manifesting and sharing grace" (125). "When forgiveness, an aspect of a broad horizon of salvation, becomes relational and present, it also becomes communal, not individualistic. "Speaking from a free-church tradition, Miraslov Volf argues that redemption is mediated through real relations in community, not simply 'immediately' to the individual" (160).

 

Just as salvation/redemption is "by grace through faith," so is forgiveness. Shults writes, "Trying to work up the energy to forgive another exhausts human resources. Divine forgiveness makes room for humans to share in the grace and joy of trinitarian love, which provides an infinite resource for human forgiveness" (169).