Positive Faith and Sin Part IV

If you’re behind on these posts, click here to visit the whole blog so you can get caught up. Otherwise you might get lost. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?

My experience as a listener suggests that most people are painfully aware that they are not entirely the person they’d like to be (aka, they’re painfully aware of their own sinfulness).

So, given that, what do you think might happen if I see it as my job to make people even more aware of the things that already cause them great pain?

What kind of pastor would I be if I treated you all as if you were dogs that needed to have your nose rubbed in your own pee so you’d stop wetting the rug?

Right- it would not be a good situation. Some people would respond to that by trying to over perform. Some would respond by withdrawing. Some would feel uncomfortable but think to themselves, “Well, this must be how it is.”

In the end, none of these is growing into a more faithful human being.

Positive Faith & Sin Part III

If you’re behind on these posts, click here to visit the whole blog so you can get caught up. Otherwise you might get lost. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Over the next few days I’m going to talk about how sin can be handled seriously while still maintaining a positive faith. I’m doing this because there is a stereotype against positive faith- people tend to think that, if you’re being positive, then you’re not taking the hard parts seriously. My argument is: I’m taking the hard parts even more seriously because I want us to do the things that actually help us deal with the hard parts- rather than be stuck in them.

And so- I want to take just a minute, today, to make an observation:

People take their sin unbelievably seriously.

I know, I know. It’s hard to believe. But it’s true. Take it from a (now) professional listener. People tell me all the things they wouldn’t tell anyone else. And, believe me, people take their sin seriously. Even if they don’t call it that. Even if they aren’t people of faith. Every single person I talk to is tremendously concerned with the impact they are having on the world around them.

Now, as people, we don’t always say these things to the people around us. Sometimes we’re defensive. Sometimes we’re scared to be vulnerable (or it’s just hard to be vulnerable- regardless of the emotion involved). The point is, whatever is going on inside us, we don’t always share it.

Because we don’t always share it, people can get the wrong idea. They think we don’t see what’s wrong with ourselves. They think we don’t recognize our own shortcomings and don’t want to deal with them. Now, of course, there is sometimes truth to this. We’re not always aware of every shortcoming we have. But, for the most part, most people are painfully aware that they are not entirely the person they’d like to be.

So, what happens if I tell someone how sinful they are? What happens if I use my “big voice” (as Norah calls it) to remind them of how sinful they are? What would happen if I did that to you?

Imagine it for a moment and we’ll come back to this tomorrow.

Positive Faith and Sin Part II

Read yesterday’s post before reading this. It’ll help.

People tend to be afraid that talking about faith positively means you’re unwilling to face the “hard” parts of faith. To be honest- that makes me either eye roll or laugh depending on how generous I’m feeling (and I’m not usually feeling generous).

So let’s just go there.

What is sin?

Well, in the Bible anyway, it’s a few different things. 1. It’s a force that is active in the world that opposes God’s plan to bring creation totally in line with his values (compassion, patience, mercy, love). 2. This is kind of a continuation of 1, but, the force that opposes God’s plan that is somehow within each of us. 3. A specific action that does not line up with God’s plan. Let’s unpack each of these three a little further (but I’m not going to go into great detail).

There’s an impersonal component to sin because it’s something outside of ourselves that we all battle and this force can pull us away from our certain way of seeing and being in the world. In other words, sometimes we live “in sin” because we’ve been influenced by sin.

There’s a personal component of it as well. Pay careful attention to how I preface this next sentence. Without some guidance, help, support, affirmation, or love, we do not instinctively put God’s love on display in our lives. I believe this is, practically speaking (not so much theologically speaking), what it means to live in sin. It’s when we are unable to prioritize reflecting God’s love to the world around us. We are more than capable of doing it- but we need the love and support of others in order to get there (in addition to the love of God, naturally).

The third component of sin is something I’m not particularly interested in unpacking. The individual actions that we do flow out of something that happens in 1 or 2 and, as a general rule, people are not particularly confused about the specific for instances of when they do not reflect God’s love.

I tend to believe that focusing on creating a community that fosters love, support, affirmation, admiration, and more, will create the environment we need to better reflect God’s love. That needs to be our focus in order to take sin seriously.

I’ll say more tomorrow.

Positive Faith and Sin

The dreaded “s” word. I can remember being in seminary and having conversations with others about wanting to present faith in a more positive light- only to have them quickly dismiss it and accuse me of being “soft” on sin. Being “soft” on sin was their way of saying, “You’re not taking it seriously enough.”

Now, I would say I take it very seriously. I would also say most people I know take their own sin very seriously. I do not believe the problem, when talking about positive faith and sin, is an issue of seriousness. I believe it’s an issue of what’s the most *helpful* way to address sin that actually *helps* people live out their certain way of seeing. Yes, I used the word help twice in one sentence, and this is because I believe how we handle sin in community is a matter of helpfulness.

What is going to produce lives that more fully reflect God’s love?

I’ve got plenty to say on the topic but, in short, I’ll say this: I don’t believe shame and condemnation brings the best out of people. When we don’t bring the best out of people, we’re unlikely to see people at their best (obvious). When we don’t see people at their best, we’re unlikely to see the depths of God’s love that they have to offer the world around them. And that’s what I’m interested in seeing: God’s love springing forth in each of your lives, radically and uncontrollably.

Positive Faith in Scripture: A God Who Comforts

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4, CEB

God’s goal, his plan, in fact, is to move creation to a place where there will be no death, no pain. There will be no more need for sadness because creation itself will perfectly embody his compassion, patience, mercy, and love.

And, even so, he will wipe away the tears from the sadness that has come before. Because he is a comforter.

There will one day be a time where no future comfort is needed- but we all have pasts- and he is here for us, to heal us.