Why didn’t God make it easy for us to know everything? This question from my wife as we discussed some contentious issues that people in the church love to fight over sounds like the makings of a series.
I’ve been studying sin–and God’s response–while my Bible study group reads Romans. So first, what is sin? Well, Paul gives us one of his many lists in the introduction to the letter. People love lists. We can take these as a checklist. Hmm, I don’t do that one, or that one, oh, let’s skip that one, I don’t do that one–and so on. Meanwhile what we’re really thinking is — other people do that one, she does the next one, he does that one — so I must be better than they.
I think that the real question lies not in looking at others (remember Jesus’ story about checking out the piece of sawdust in someone else’s eye when we have a plank in ours?), the real question as we read Romans and the rest of the New Testament is “Really, no dodging the issue, what sins have I done lately, the last hour, the last day, the last week?” My new crusade is to get people away from the theoretical, from looking at others. The real issue is within me, and you.
If I come to realistic grips with my sins, my straying from a relationship with God, then perhaps my life and witness will help others look at the mess they’ve made with their lives and also seek a relationship with God. Note, I didn’t say the observance of a list of rules–I said a relationship. Living with Jesus is the key. How can I worry about others when I’m such a mess? That’s the issue.
Gary Mintchell
Tags: Christianity, lifestyle, Spirituality
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