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Sin

So, sin. We have a variety of opinions on what sin is. Perhaps the most frequently offered is "missing the mark." That's OK I guess, as far as it goes. The problem is that it doesn't tell us what it is that we've missed - just that we've apparently missed it.

To understand sin, it is necessary to understand why we have the word. We have it to identify and label our failure to live as the image of God.  "Life as God" is the mark we have missed when we sin.  Concretely, this can be understood as not acknowledging God, and living or acting in an unloving way. If God is Love and you are the image of God, your purpose, your reason for existing, your most complete you is Love. Love here isn't emotional or physical excitement but a higher kind of love. This love is defined as volitional self-giving for the nurturing of the other. A mature love acknowledges the being of the other, the value inherent in them, and rejoices with them in their own self-giving and their blessing of us and others.

This last is why Israel's God repeatedly reminds her of what He has done for her. This isn't for himself, but rather Israel's disrespecting of her God is evidence that she isn't living Love. God doesn't get upset because His own glory isn't acknowledged, but because those He has made and the nation He has crafted from nothing are not living as they have been made to live - they are missing the mark. Individuals are intended to live as love in the world and Israel was expected to live as the economy of God in the world. - and in doing so, to respond to her God with worship. Worship not because He is some generic God but because He has blessed Israel by creating her from nothing, bringing her out of captivity and exile, and protecting her from her enemies. Love can let go of self enough to acknowledge and celebrate the grace and kindness of others in whose debt we stand.

Sin then can be described as not-love, which tells us conversely, how to live righteously. The righteous person does what is right, what is loving, what the other needs in the moment. The righteous person loves in all they do.  It is probably too late for you or me to live a perfect life, but it is possible to live a righteous life, by intentionally loving in every moment. A popular statement is, "do the next right thing." We might modify that slightly to "do the next righteous thing," or "do what love demands in this moment." Do that, and you will be righteous as a disciple of God and you will not sin.

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