I am realizing quickly (for me personally) the need to develop clear vocabulary concerning what I would consider some very “Christianese” terms or vocabulary words. And actually my goal with this post would not be to try to develop necessarily a corporate definition even within this blog concerning such terms, but simply to better understand the clarity of individual thought while posting and responding to posts within this blog both present and future. Some terms that have the ability to be used prolifically within this blog for example are: truth, love, faith, God, heaven, hell, miracles, grace, worship, prayer, etc. All of these terms have generic definition, but also can have very personal and experiential individual definition within the hearts of everyone. The pursuit of gathering such information could be endless and in some regards vanity, but there is one term or word that I’d really like to get some individual clarification on and that is the word “SIN”.
I’m hoping that the Spirit of God will “draw deep waters” out concerning responses to this term and that answers go beyond simple quid pro quo responses generated from surface databases like: what you’ve always believed, what you learned in church, what the Bible says literally, etc. Rather than ask specific questions, I’m just going to leave it open-ended for those who respond to be defensive, theoretical, literal, etheral, relational….whatever.
So here’s the question… SIN?
Drew,
I have decided to resist the temptation to look up the definition or gather information from “surface databases” on the Internet or even to try and recall what I have been taught about “sin” in the past. I am also going to try to resist editing and “fixing” my response. Instead, I am going to just start writing and see what comes out. Here is what “sin” is to me:
Sin to me is a state of being. Its a state where I have either chosen willfully or just found myself there by surprise (more because of self-deceit than naivety). Its a state of being where I know in my soul that I have separated myself from God or at a minimum I have turned my back on my Father’s desires for me and begin heading in a direction that increases the distance between me and my heavenly father. In my heart I know God is still right there with His arms open wide but I can’t receive His love because of the state of MY heart. I know that people often say a sin is a sin is a sin…as if all sins are equal because they all separate us from God. I don’t really feel like that’s completely true though. I think it is true in part because I do believe that, by definition, a sin is a sin. However, some sins are very trivial and don’t grab hold of our hearts. But there is a kind that festers and grows and overwhelms us to the point of acting illogically, recklessly, and sometimes even dangerously. A kind that becomes so dominate in our inner being that we can no longer experience joy, we find ourselves feeling guilty, ashamed, depressed, and, for lack of a better word, lost. To me its more than doing the unwise thing, or the wrong thing, it really is a state of depravity where we have given ourselves over to our desires at the expense of remaining faithful to God, not just in our actions but in our thoughts as well.
I am not saying this as some kind of doctrine but from personal experience. There have been times in my life where I find myself doing things and I don’t even understand why. I know that they are bad for me. By my behavior you would think that the sin must be bringing me joy but I usually know deep inside that in the end it will leave me stripped of joy and desperate for God (but too ashamed to reach in His direction). Sin is at its peak in our lives when we find ourselves no longer caring that we are sinning, no longer craving a relationship with God, and when we find feeding our sinful desires more important than the welfare of others in our lives (both through outward manifestations like addictions or inward thoughts like pride). We lose marriages, relationships with our children, jobs, money, time, health, etc to sin. It’s like we become truly stupid and irrational. We have all seen what sin can do to a person, a marriage, or even a country. But at the root it really is just an issue with each individual person.
I can’t speak for others but I know in my own life when I have given myself over to sin it becomes difficult to feel God’s presence in my life. It’s like I can feel Him pressing in and surrounding me…like He is just outside the door, knocking, and pleading with me to let Him in. But I stand there, alone in the cold dark room of my sin when one doorknob away is true joy. On a few occasions it has been worse than that…I let myself dive so deep into sin and self-deceit that I can no longer feel God’s presence at all. It is usually at those moments, in the clarity of true darkness, that I realize how lost I am without God’s love. I think that is why so many people have their first “awe” moment with God at the “bottom”. It is when we have reached true loneliness, true desperation, when our sin has completely overtaken us and all hope feels losts that we look up (because there is no where else to look) and ask God to help us…and we mean it to the core of our being. That “moment” is like opening the door. Christ rushes in and saves us. Joy returns. Faith is restored. Life begins again…new, and fresh. We no longer feel trapped by sin and desperate…we are overwhelmed with a sense of freedom and hope…but only because of our Savior.
I know that not everyone reading this post will be able to relate to what I am talking about…but hopefully someday you will…there is no greater experience than feeling God’s grace and love overwhelm you. I know this comment is supposed to be about sin but I would like to end it focused on Jesus. I am trying to explain something that is so internal to me that it is difficult to put into words. I saw a video a couple months ago that did a great job summarizing what I have been trying to explain in the last paragraph.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
Blessings, BoB
Thanks Bob. Your response was right up the alley of what I was hoping for. BTW, Watching the skit reminded me of how much I’d like to get back into drama one day. We did a similar skit except instead of Jesus holding everyone back, he actually stepped in and was forced to partake of all the things the girl just went through while the girl sat there in wonder. It still ends pretty much the same way.
I had the same experience with sin in high school. I got so far from God that I didn’t feel His presence any more. I had purposefully walked away from God. It took guts. A year and a half later, I was miserable. I begged God to please talk to me again. I knew I had messed up. When I finally heard his voice again (it was not long) in my life I openly wept. It was still a journey back to God. One that I am still traveling until I leave this earth.
Psalms 51
Good question Drew. And awesome Answer BoBAnthony. I was blessed by reading it.
Drew, the Drama was almost exactly like one we did in college back in ’89 about 20 years ago. It’s amazing how those things keep going around. New Song though . . .
Ours ended differently too. It ended with Jesus holding them back in the form of a cross and as they looked on he died, came back and took his own heart and gave it to the girl . . . Satan made a final effort to grab the heart as Jesus offered it, but missed and ended up under the heel of Christ.
Which brings me to Sin (that which separates us from the Heart Jesus offers.)
We all know the literal “missing the mark definition”, that begs the question what is the mark that it is being missed? I think it is God’s plan/purpose/design for my life. For me, In all things the question is, does this help or hurt my relationship with Christ. If the answer is hurt, it is Sin . . .
The whole point of recognizing sin is recognizing our need for a Savior. I constantly am reminded of how dependent I am on Him . . . my flesh is weak. Like Paul, I am often doing that which I don’t want to do . . .
I do not believe this is a Salvific issue. My good deeds or bad deeds have nothing to do with what Christ accomplished for me. It does have a lot to do with fulfilling the purposes God has for me. I have missed much Joy in life because I chose my way over God’s.
But as Anthony so beautifully described, He is always waiting with arms open to welcome me – no matter how far in the other direction I may have run.
I love the new heart that God offers me, unfortunately part of me still loves the old heart too . . .
Geesh…. Anthony’s using greek in his responses, you’re using lating (salvific); I think I may be out of my intellectual league here. Anyway, here goes…
Eatgray esponseray Kyle! Othbay ouyay andway Bob isplayedday
omesay eryvay ersonalpay answersway andway othbay ofway ouyay
ointedpay otay insay asway eingbay imarilypray away elationalray
issueway otay ichwhay Iway agreeway. Otnay atthay ymay
opinionway attersmay, utbay itway isway icenay otay eesay atthay
ourway efinitionsday allway avehay omesay oundationalfay
orrelatingcay ucturestray. Iway eelfay ikelay Iway ouldcay
useway ethay ordway insay ownay (atway eastlay ithway ouyay
otway) andway eelfay erethay ouldway ebay eryvay ittlelay
iscommunicationmay.
Drew
Ewdray,
Iway avehay otay onfesscay…Iway adhay otay useway away igpay
atinlay otay englishway anslationtray itesay eforebay Iway
ouldcay ompletelycay understandway ouryay eplyray. Iway
agreeway oughthay atthay eway areway onway ethay amesay agepay
aboutway insay eingbay imarilypray away elationshipray issueway
. Ookinglay orwardfay otay ouryay extnay ermtay. Essingsblay,
OBbay
PSAY – BTWAY, Osethay areway ustjay aboutway ethay onlyway
ordsway Iway owknay inway Eekgray! Andway Iway adhay evernay
eardhay ethay ordway Alvificsay eforebay! (andway Iway adhay 2
earsyay ofway Atinlay inway Ighhay Oolschay!)
For People who don’t know Pig Latin:
English to Pig – http://users.snowcrest.net/donnelly/piglatin.html
Pig to English – http://piglatin.bavetta.com/index.php
Yeah, I can read piglatin, but I used a converter to write what I had too. That’s just too much effort. I do like your name in piglatin however…OBbay. >like obay one Kanobay.
I struggled through both posts before I saw the links at the bottom . . . Thanks for the linguistic exercise.