Church: What is it good for? (whose sin is greater?)

This thread is the second in a series that came about after finding that the majority of the people I engage with are of the opinion that the answer to the question: "Church, what is it good for?" come back with the response: “Absolutely nothing!”

The first part of this series reminded us that Jesus' once and for all atoning act on the cross and the shedding of His blood in that event is made of ALL humanity. Forgiveness and reconciliation with the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are but an act of faith away. Remember Romans 3.24-25: “And ALL are justified freely by His (God’s) grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith...”

Salvation is universally given, but before my universalist friends start cheering there's that reality that it needs to be received by 'by faith in Christ' and this means reconciliation with God. Now, despite those who will reach for their rubbers to erase bits (or words) they don't like. No matter how much some will claim that the words of the Bible were added to, removed or otherwise modified by people with their own agendas (the great redactionist caveat): The reality is that what we have is Canon (kanon - the yardstick or measure) and what we have is what we've got and what we should work with!

I will just get my soapbox out and say that there are a few things that drive me to distraction.:

i. 'sin' - is the word we use to denote something that contravenes God's law, will and desire for us. Though some will wise to erase the word for some old tosh about 'God just wanting us to be happy' and calling upon us to 'reread the Bible through the lens of love and approval for all'

ii. The Old Testament is not a bunch of 'stone-age (mysogynistic) old blokes' who had no understanding of the societal values, actions and behaviours such as we encounter today'. The reality is that they knew it, experienced it (and more) and acted to be countercultural. The problem with today's Church is that too many of its member want to create a popularise, permissive, weak and wishy washy, Christ denying, body.

iii. We are not here to create God in our own image or to approve of the gods of this age in order that we might create some syncretic abomination. We are here to be like the early Christians, ethnically Christian, obviously countercultural, and truly discipled and disciplined.

iv. I see, in the Christian faith I am part of, a Church that lives to make God's love known, embracing ALL people as a totally inclusive body making real the 'nothing you've been, seen. done, or will do can separate us from the love of God'.

v. I believe in a Church that is called to meet those doing it wrong ('caught in sin') and to restore them gently (righteous anger is rarely righteous) taking care that in doing so we don't enter into doing it wrong (yep, that's 'sinning') and so deny the love of God towards others or within us.

It is all so blinking obvious! Isn't it? This is 'Being Christian 101'.

So when we find someone 'caught in a sin', isn't this what we should be doing as Church:

Engage with them and dialogue, never losing sight that the person before us is the 'image of the invisible God made visible', and seek to sense the heartbeat of God and His presence (will, rule, love, demands and actions) and get in step with it. We find the mission Dei and sign up to be part of it, for undoing so our incarnate nature brings God into the person's presence in flesh just as God brought that self-same presence into relationship with a fallen world. After all, a fallen world is just the same fallen person, like the one in front of us on a much larger scale.

A good rule is know you own limitations - I know I can generally only deal with the world a person at a time!

How do we do it? Better still, "How should we do it?"

I know only of one sin which is 'unforgivable' (Matt 12:31-32 "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.").

As I read this I find myself wondering if this means that everything else we do has to be considered to be forgivable. I mentioned this to some Christians last year (Happy New Year!) and they told me that murders, people-traffickers, fornicators, adulterers, paedophiles, homosexuals, bisexuals, rich people, poor people, liars, thieves, alcoholics, Remainers, Leavers, drug-dealers, and (add your own area of antagonism and curse them and continue). Doesn't this leave us with a cruel and wicked God?

Does He really act like this? Is He really this cruel and heartless?

I don't think so. So the answer to the question, "Whose sin is greater?" The same one Jesus is asked in John 9. The people believed that illness, poverty and the like were the result of sin. I once attended a Pentecostal church where were told to confess of sins that they might prosper. The most power sin known to humanity, the one that apparently rendered God impotent to act or to bless was the: 'Unremembered, or unknown, unconfessed sin.'

What a week and useless, uncaring and unable to act God some people have created for themselves.

So to answer the question, "Whose sin is greater?" I think the answer is obvious (but will probably get me loads of email and conversations started (hallelujah, how I love conversations) in that it surely has to be: No one's!

And if Judas hadn't decided to take things into his own hands, you know, I am certain that there was forgiveness and acceptance available to him for the hands of the risen Christ. But that wouldn't have served the cause of the person who prompted him to steal the car and deny the Christ now, would it?

Pax

NOTE. I'm sorry to those who have written to me saying something along the lines of, "You naughty mysoginst. God is not a 'He',"

Please remember that I an an exceedingly old goat who happens to feel discomfort when God is referred to as 'S/He' or as 'He, He, She or It' or whatever you like to use. Each to their own (and no I'm not being a mysogynist, but are you not perhaps enjoying your views from the comfort of your position as a mysandrist?