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?
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7 comments:
sounds like a good article.
is the the right web site
http://www.pathwaypress.org/leadership.htm
Hello Nancy,
It is a good article. Unfortunately, they haven't posted it on the net. I should have been more clear. You can reach Leadership by passing over the word near the front of the post. FYI, for future use, www.LeadershipJournal.net is the site. The parent site is Christianity today.
Blessings,
m
Crowm,
Good thoughts. I too like Ortberg.
Yes, sin can't be tamed, but neither does it have to rule us in this life, according to Romans 6 and Romans 8. But if we play with sin it will do its nasty work, and won't leave us unharmed, for sure.
I really like Neil Plantinga's book on sin: "Not the Way it's Supposed to Be: a breviary on sin"- something like that.
Ted,
Yes! To "play with sin" is something surely harmful. However, it always has its consequences.
It's interesting Ortberg mentions the same Plantinga book. He says he constantly refers back to the work.
Ah...something else to add to the list.
Blessings,
m
thanks for the info.
i see that i can read a little about john o. on wikipedia. he started out in illinois, and is now in california. a big church pastor and is into writing books.
i agree with john, sin sucks and we do not grasp how much it corrupts. i think that i only have a clue because of my own life, and i can see that choices that i have made and the outcomes. but, i also see how many times it could have been worse, and i chalk that up to grace and others prayers as well.
i have noticed that when i type and i am just one key over from where my fingers should be, that the words do not look quite right.
ok...sin is always out to get us and should be taken very seriously, in such that we will have to remember to keep a very steady eye on the way of life.
because the way of death can appear as a sweet and handy choice, until one looks at the long term effects of that choice.
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