| | A conversation with a troubled friend gave me a better understanding of the sin barrier. My friend was explaining a breakup with a woman he loved. He had cheated on her and afterward he was unable to accept her love. She continued loving him the same but his guilt from cheating wouldn't allow him to accept her love. Her love never changed, but his ability to accept it, due to his sin, did change. Many people explain salvation as Christ's removal of the sin barrier. This barrier applies to both born again people and those that aren't born again. Is this sin barrier a book where our sins are written down? Is this barrier a wall between us and God? Well, it is, kinda. The wall is built out of our guilt and we do usually write down most of our sins on it. God's love never changes. He loves us just as much when we sin as when we don't sin but we are unable to accept his love when our guilt is blocking us from God. In a sense we create a Matrix. Sin is somewhat phenomenological. We create a false reality because of our sin. The true reality is that God loves us always and that everything that exists sings his love song written to us but when we have sinned our guilt won't let us hear it.
Is this a conscious act? Sometimes but not always. Sometimes we have sinned for so long that we don't remember the true reality. We are locked into the Matrix. We only see the world through the dog eat dog world that we have created. We see selfish thieves and not singing trees. We see abuse and not love. We lose our wonder and gain boredom. Our Matrix is boring but God's reality is amazing. My friend that explained this story to me probably wouldn't have been able to explain it that way during the middle of the problem. It was only in hindsight that he was able to see so clearly that his guilt couldn't accept her love. I think this is the way we are most of the time, too. We will be able to see this reality more clearly in hindsight than at the moment. A close self examination should bring this to light. Paul gives a picture of this in 2 Corinthians 13. He asks them to examine themselves and then he says that he hopes they pass but not only to appear as though they pass but so that they may do what is right. Paul explains failing the test as being unable to do what is right and passing the test as being able to do what is right. A couple of verses before Paul asks the rhetorical question, "Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?"
As a basketball player and coach I experienced this, often. When a player dwells on their last mistake, they are unable to play well from that point on. Their guilt or depression messes up the rest of their game. If you have attended a game you have probably heard a coach or fan yell, "shake it off." That is what Paul is yelling in 2 Corinthians. He is saying, "shake it off, we need you to do what is right." Paul even ends the chapter with an explanation of tomorrows practice. He says, "I pray for your improvement....so that at practice tomorrow I won't have to be too severe."
So what do we do? Wouldn't it be great if God sent someone to "fill up what is lacking in his afflictions"¹ and tell us that we are forgiven? Wouldn't it be great if God instituted real physical people to come in his stead and tell us that he loves us even though we sin and then tell us ways that we can get out of our created Matrix of guilt? Wouldn't it be great if God still sent Pauls that were praying for our improvement? Wouldn't that be a gracious idea?
Lord,
Help us break from our Matrix of guilt and accept your unchanging love
Your Kingdom Come
Your Will be done
In Jesus Name
Amen.
James S. Sturgill
- Col. 1:24
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| | Posted 6/23/2009 11:29 PM - 1 View - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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