The Problem of Sin

Wow! What a huge topic. How can anyone "deal" with sin in one post? Truth is, they (at least I) can't. And I'm not going to try to do so now.

I ran across a great article in Leadership a few weeks ago. Sadly, I couldn't find the article on line. But it's truly worth your time.

I became familiar with John Ortberg a few years back and appreciate the way he writes, teaches, and shares his encouragement with those "plunging ahead" in this less than perfect world. Ortberg is Senior Pastor for Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California. He's also editor at large of Leadership.

Within the article, Ortberg argues that the Church has had a view of sin that should be reconsidered. Ortberg writes, "The problem with what might be called 'the victorious Christian living' mindset is not that it takes sin too seriously. The problem is it inevitably becomes selective about which sins God hates the most, and they always end up being somebody else's sins."

And again, "...people cannot grasp the goodness of the life that sin corrupts. When we do not understand the destructiveness of sin, we are more concerned about getting punished for our sins than the way we are punished by them."

Finally, Ortberg argues sin cannot be tamed in this life. However, he believes one should focus not on the sin but on the one who provides redemption. For Ortberg, it's really a problem of perspective.

Again, I regret the article is unavailble to be linked. The article is in the Spring '09 edition of Leadership on pages 31-34. Consider picking it up.

Any thoughts here?