"For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" -- Romans 3:23
Richard Beck, author of the blog, "Experimental Theology," recently posted about what he believes is broken within progressive Christianity. Beck related the story that while hosting a much publicized progressive Christian event he was approached by a woman who inquired about the prayer rope he was wearing on his right wrist. "You recite the Jesus prayer on each knot," he explained, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." "Oh, I like that," the woman exclaimed. "But, I don't like the 'sinner' part; I'd leave that out." Beck says that is a classic progressive Christian response. We do not like to think of ourselves as "sinners." To be honest, I don't know anyone. including myself, who likes 'the sinner part.' In fact, I once met someone who asserted that he had never committed a sinful act in his life! Right. At the same time I don't know anyone who would deny that, what we can call sinful acts, exists in the world. Right and wrong, sin and righteousness, good and bad/evil, are all constructs of the human condition and that distinguishing rightful acts from those that are wrong in a given society is the result of a great moral awakening that happened thousands of years ago. Whether this “awakening” came about through the grace of God or in Platonic intellectual reasoning, we can all agree that some acts committed by human-beings can be labeled 'good,' while others are, most assuredly, 'bad' and, therefore, sinful, if not down right evil.
Animals act out of a sense of survival, thus they can strike against prey or enemy at will without scruples, shame or remorse. Emotion, as we humans understand emotion, doesn't even enter into the equation in the animal world. There, might makes right. We humans are, on the other hand, sentient beings aware that we possess a conscience and are, therefore, constrained from wonton acts of violence by the constructs of the social contracts we make within our civilized societies in recognition that we are all in this together. Still, it is apparent that among we humans are other humans who often choose to act outside such constraits; the news cycles are full of their acts some of which appear more animal than human. What is truly sad is that some seem to wear their depravity like a badge of honor.
Polish poet (and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature) Wislawa Szymborsak called such roguish behavior the "sign of bestiality," conjuring up images of Rev. 13:11 regarding the "Mark of the Beast." Now, I'm not a psychologist, I am a theologist, but it doesn't take a theologian to understand the meaning of Gen. 4:8-14 where, upon having slain his brother Abel, Cain is given a 'mark' by God as a sign of recognition so that others would know who this man was. But, what was that mark?Scripture is rather vague on this making it open to much speculation which is why I would like to propose that such a "mark" is most apparent in those humans whose thinking is so impaired that they are incapable of making sound moral judgements. Most peculiar is that, while such persons may well know the difference between right and wrong, they lack a respect and a compassion for others and are, therefore, unable to respect the social contract and the moral boundaries placed upon each of us. Such roguish behavior is labeled either sociopathic or psychopatic and refers to a condition of total self-absorbtion that, in effect, says, "I can disregard you because you are nothing to me." Such lack of a moral compass justifies deviant anti-social behavior such as theft, assault, murder, sexual perversion and all mannder of moral depravity. It is an attitude that says, I am so much stronger than you and you can't stop me. In a world of beasts, “might makes right.”
Polish poet (and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature) Wislawa Szymborsak called such roguish behavior the "sign of bestiality," conjuring up images of Rev. 13:11 regarding the "Mark of the Beast." Now, I'm not a psychologist, I am a theologist, but it doesn't take a theologian to understand the meaning of Gen. 4:8-14 where, upon having slain his brother Abel, Cain is given a 'mark' by God as a sign of recognition so that others would know who this man was. But, what was that mark?Scripture is rather vague on this making it open to much speculation which is why I would like to propose that such a "mark" is most apparent in those humans whose thinking is so impaired that they are incapable of making sound moral judgements. Most peculiar is that, while such persons may well know the difference between right and wrong, they lack a respect and a compassion for others and are, therefore, unable to respect the social contract and the moral boundaries placed upon each of us. Such roguish behavior is labeled either sociopathic or psychopatic and refers to a condition of total self-absorbtion that, in effect, says, "I can disregard you because you are nothing to me." Such lack of a moral compass justifies deviant anti-social behavior such as theft, assault, murder, sexual perversion and all mannder of moral depravity. It is an attitude that says, I am so much stronger than you and you can't stop me. In a world of beasts, “might makes right.”
One of the first questions posed to me as a young philosophy student at the University of Missouri was, "define 'freedom.'" Is it unrestrained behavior, or behavior tempered by law? It is a question that has been debated for thousands of years. There are those who would insist that freedom is unrestrained behavior and everyone else be damned. We are seeing some of that attitude on full display during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing masks, social distancing, altering our lifestyle to limit social contact seem foreign in a socitey where people are "free" to do whatever they want, and yet, in the face of a dire medical emergency, they can be seen as reasonable limits to social contacts in an effort to get the virus under control. Still, such concerns are of little interest to those whose only interests are their own. However, no social contract founded on the moral principle of social obligation allows for that kind of freedom. In a society we all act for the good of the whole. No one in any societal setting is allowed to act as they please without expectation of some sort of reprisal. No one in a societal setting is allowed to live as if the only law that matters is their own. This was the moral awakening I alluded to earlier and has been true since the beginning of human communities and is the basis for what we call, civil-ization. To those who say the government cannot tell one what to do, I would quickly point out that it happens all the time. Paying taxes comes readily to mind as does speeding tickets and parking tickets. Required professional training and the payment of fees are required for certain professional licenses; and how about licensing and registering your car, or being required to maintain liability insurance? And, let's not forget the military draft. Though it no long existss Federal Law still requires 18-year old males to register. Should the country go to war the government has a ready base from which to call up, i.e., compel, all able-bodied male citizens to fight for the country.
Historically, a number of legal codes have guided societies around the globe compelling its citizens to be law-abiding. The first known attempt was done by the Sumerian king, Urukagina, who, around 2380 BCE, enacted laws to end the corruption that took advantage of the poor, orphaned and widowed. Other codes followed, the most famous being "Hammurabi's Law" in the 17th Century, BCE. The Law of Moses is codified in the Jewish Torah (the Old Testament). In Greece there was the Athenian Code of Draco, while Rome enacted "The Twelve Tables of Roman Law." Thus, moral codes to restrain our behavior so that we might live together in a peace that promotes happiness and the common good has been part of human history for a number of millenia.
Secularly, we say that those who transgress the law have committed a crime while, religiously, we say they have "sinned." "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," said the Apostle Paul. Still, few among us like to think of ourselves as, "sinners." I'd leave that part out.
If the word 'sin,' is troubling, then I suggest a reading of Paul Tillich's, "The Shaking of the Foundations" (1948) wherein Dr. Tillich confirms that this word, 'sin,' though familiar, remains a strange concept for we mortals to grasp. The professor asks, what exactly does this word, sin, signify? A violation of God's Law? Most certainly. Still, the word seems a strange and harsh condemnation conjuring up images of unrepentant souls burning in Hell for ever and ever. But, me, a sinner? I'd leave that part out.
As a solution, Dr. Tillich suggests that we moderns might consider replacing the word sin with another word -- separation -- a softer, less damning-sounding word, if you will, but nevertheless, one that implies alienation. If we stop to analyze Tillich's reasoning, I think we might all agree that an act considered "sinful" certainly signifies separation. In breaking the law, man-made or God's, we have separated ourselves from within our society; separated ourselves from within ourselves; and, most certainly, separated ourselves from the Ground of All Being.
To be separated from the very ground, purpose and meaning of our existence means, simply, that we are living a life where any over-arching distinction between right and wrong simply does not exist because the only law is the law perpetuated in the mind and soul of the individual so separated. To my mind this is the "sign of the Beast," mentioned in Genesis 1 by marking us as "separated out" from the spiritual presence of God. When Paul remarked that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," it was just another way of saying that all of us have experienced separation in the very depth of our lives at one time or another.
While animals are free to act wantonly, we humans must live within a constrained relationship with other humans who are, themselves, entitled to live free from wanton acts of violence. And if we define violence as any act that injures someone either physically or psychologically, then we can say that even an act of petty theft is violent in that it deprives another of their right to happiness and to feel secure in the possessions. Abuse, physical or emotional, is another form of deprivation towards another. In my view, this is the point of the Ten Commandments. Each one prohibits an injury, to either God, or to others and at their essence is the prohibition against selfishness and the urge to covet, especially to covet that which belongs to another. Even in disrespecting one's parents is to covet one's own selfishness.
If, then, sin is separation, what can be said of the word 'grace?' Grace means forgiveness and it is a word that goes to the very heart of Christianity (and the one that gets overlooked the most). We who call ourselves Christian, followers of Christ Jesus, are compelled by our faith to recognize that no life is irretrievable, even if that life has been one so depraved that it faces extinction in an execution chamber. A sign of our forgiveness towards such a person is our prayers for the salvation of his or her soul. For those not separated at a point of extinction, Tillich, again, offers a suggestion for how we might address this word, "grace." He says, if we have replaced 'sin' with the word, "separation," how about we replace 'grace' with the word, "reunion?"
Conscience aside, we humans are free to make choices. Biblically, we call this freedom to choose, 'Free Will." Thus, we are free to be either a warm-hearted human or a cold-blooded beast. Those of us of the Judeo-Christian heritage believe we are called to a true humanity in Jesus Christ via a transformation, the 'new being' (2 Cor. 5:17) that mirrors God's Holiness and Love towards all others; a love that calls us to embrace our neighbors -- the 'others' in our lives be they spouse, children, the stranger or immigrant, the neighbor next door or down the street -- and to live a life more concerned about their welfare than our own. Christians are called by Christ to live a life grounded in a reunion with that which is the meaning of all human existence. Man may be an animal by nature, but at we are animals called out of that nature by God into a "reunion" with what God intended humanity to be.
If the word 'sin,' is troubling, then I suggest a reading of Paul Tillich's, "The Shaking of the Foundations" (1948) wherein Dr. Tillich confirms that this word, 'sin,' though familiar, remains a strange concept for we mortals to grasp. The professor asks, what exactly does this word, sin, signify? A violation of God's Law? Most certainly. Still, the word seems a strange and harsh condemnation conjuring up images of unrepentant souls burning in Hell for ever and ever. But, me, a sinner? I'd leave that part out.
As a solution, Dr. Tillich suggests that we moderns might consider replacing the word sin with another word -- separation -- a softer, less damning-sounding word, if you will, but nevertheless, one that implies alienation. If we stop to analyze Tillich's reasoning, I think we might all agree that an act considered "sinful" certainly signifies separation. In breaking the law, man-made or God's, we have separated ourselves from within our society; separated ourselves from within ourselves; and, most certainly, separated ourselves from the Ground of All Being.
To be separated from the very ground, purpose and meaning of our existence means, simply, that we are living a life where any over-arching distinction between right and wrong simply does not exist because the only law is the law perpetuated in the mind and soul of the individual so separated. To my mind this is the "sign of the Beast," mentioned in Genesis 1 by marking us as "separated out" from the spiritual presence of God. When Paul remarked that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," it was just another way of saying that all of us have experienced separation in the very depth of our lives at one time or another.
While animals are free to act wantonly, we humans must live within a constrained relationship with other humans who are, themselves, entitled to live free from wanton acts of violence. And if we define violence as any act that injures someone either physically or psychologically, then we can say that even an act of petty theft is violent in that it deprives another of their right to happiness and to feel secure in the possessions. Abuse, physical or emotional, is another form of deprivation towards another. In my view, this is the point of the Ten Commandments. Each one prohibits an injury, to either God, or to others and at their essence is the prohibition against selfishness and the urge to covet, especially to covet that which belongs to another. Even in disrespecting one's parents is to covet one's own selfishness.
If, then, sin is separation, what can be said of the word 'grace?' Grace means forgiveness and it is a word that goes to the very heart of Christianity (and the one that gets overlooked the most). We who call ourselves Christian, followers of Christ Jesus, are compelled by our faith to recognize that no life is irretrievable, even if that life has been one so depraved that it faces extinction in an execution chamber. A sign of our forgiveness towards such a person is our prayers for the salvation of his or her soul. For those not separated at a point of extinction, Tillich, again, offers a suggestion for how we might address this word, "grace." He says, if we have replaced 'sin' with the word, "separation," how about we replace 'grace' with the word, "reunion?"
Conscience aside, we humans are free to make choices. Biblically, we call this freedom to choose, 'Free Will." Thus, we are free to be either a warm-hearted human or a cold-blooded beast. Those of us of the Judeo-Christian heritage believe we are called to a true humanity in Jesus Christ via a transformation, the 'new being' (2 Cor. 5:17) that mirrors God's Holiness and Love towards all others; a love that calls us to embrace our neighbors -- the 'others' in our lives be they spouse, children, the stranger or immigrant, the neighbor next door or down the street -- and to live a life more concerned about their welfare than our own. Christians are called by Christ to live a life grounded in a reunion with that which is the meaning of all human existence. Man may be an animal by nature, but at we are animals called out of that nature by God into a "reunion" with what God intended humanity to be.
Consider, if you will, the Genesis story of God creating man "in his own image" (Gen. 1:27) as alluding to this "calling out" from nature. A call to be more than the 'beast' that covets only self-interest in order to survive; the beast who knows no law save his own and who makes no distinction between right and wrong because might makes right. To choose to continue to act like a beast -- to separate ourselves from others and, therefore, from God in roguish behavior -- is what can, deservedly, be called, "sin."
Addiction therapists tell us that the first step in recovery is the recognition that a problem exists. Those of us who assume to minister to others are called to address such problems, but from a spiritual perspective. We do not offer therapy. Leave that to the professionals. What we do offer is "reunion" in a recognition that in the course of human existence we make mistakes; sometimes, terrible, terrible mistakes; sometimes deeply irreversable mistakes. Such mistakes reflect the choices we make in life. Happiness or unhappiness is a choice. Love or hate is a choice. To be angry, resentful, or jealous is a choice. To covet what another has, simply to please ones self, is a choice. In recognizing that I am a sinner -- someone who has sinned, and am still sinning if only by having sinful thoughts -- is to acknowledge my separation from my fellow human beings and, ultimately, from God. But, such an acknowledgement is only the beginning. An intense struggle will insue as we move away from our addiction to sin and begin the journey to find our way out of our separateness. Evil does not let go of its prey easily.
Perhaps no other figure in the Bible illustrates the struggle towards reunion that the Apostle Paul, who wrote, "...all have lived (for) gratifying the cravings of the flesh; following its desires" (Eph. 2:1). His open honesty about his own battles with "the desires of the flesh," and how he struggled to do the right thing but ends up doing the wrong thing speaks to all of us. No one is perfect and in our imperfection we all make mistakes. For Paul, the joy of being liberated from the temptation of desire was found in the forgiveness he received from Jesus who opened his eyes to the redemptive possibilities of his own imperfection because redemption can only come from imperfection. Reunion with that which is the Ground and Meaning of all Existence as found in the life of one man, Jesus of Nazareth, seems, to me, to be the point of each of Paul's epistles.
So if you, like the lady who asked about the prayer bracelet worn by Richard Beck, don't like the "sinner part," then I suggest you try the "separation" part. A confession that admits we are separated from our Higher Power, if you will, is one that clamours for forgiveness. Forgiveness comes about through the Grace of God in an act of "reunion" with that Higher Power, an act that begins with holding out the hand that says, "Welcome," to all those society has rejected for their sinfullness.
Don't like the "sinner part?" Perhaps, then, you will like the "separation" part as we find our way back from such separation to reunion.
Addiction therapists tell us that the first step in recovery is the recognition that a problem exists. Those of us who assume to minister to others are called to address such problems, but from a spiritual perspective. We do not offer therapy. Leave that to the professionals. What we do offer is "reunion" in a recognition that in the course of human existence we make mistakes; sometimes, terrible, terrible mistakes; sometimes deeply irreversable mistakes. Such mistakes reflect the choices we make in life. Happiness or unhappiness is a choice. Love or hate is a choice. To be angry, resentful, or jealous is a choice. To covet what another has, simply to please ones self, is a choice. In recognizing that I am a sinner -- someone who has sinned, and am still sinning if only by having sinful thoughts -- is to acknowledge my separation from my fellow human beings and, ultimately, from God. But, such an acknowledgement is only the beginning. An intense struggle will insue as we move away from our addiction to sin and begin the journey to find our way out of our separateness. Evil does not let go of its prey easily.
Perhaps no other figure in the Bible illustrates the struggle towards reunion that the Apostle Paul, who wrote, "...all have lived (for) gratifying the cravings of the flesh; following its desires" (Eph. 2:1). His open honesty about his own battles with "the desires of the flesh," and how he struggled to do the right thing but ends up doing the wrong thing speaks to all of us. No one is perfect and in our imperfection we all make mistakes. For Paul, the joy of being liberated from the temptation of desire was found in the forgiveness he received from Jesus who opened his eyes to the redemptive possibilities of his own imperfection because redemption can only come from imperfection. Reunion with that which is the Ground and Meaning of all Existence as found in the life of one man, Jesus of Nazareth, seems, to me, to be the point of each of Paul's epistles.
So if you, like the lady who asked about the prayer bracelet worn by Richard Beck, don't like the "sinner part," then I suggest you try the "separation" part. A confession that admits we are separated from our Higher Power, if you will, is one that clamours for forgiveness. Forgiveness comes about through the Grace of God in an act of "reunion" with that Higher Power, an act that begins with holding out the hand that says, "Welcome," to all those society has rejected for their sinfullness.
Don't like the "sinner part?" Perhaps, then, you will like the "separation" part as we find our way back from such separation to reunion.
