Sin is not an STD

For some, the title to this article might sound to be a radical departure from Christian theology.  For others it might seem a statement so obvious it’s hardly worth stating.  What continually amazes me is how much has been invested in this line of thinking over the centuries.  Jesus had to be born of a virgin so as not be infected with the fallen condition of humanity.  And that further, Mary, Mother of our Lord, must have been conceived “immaculately”, so as not to infect Christ within her womb.  Of all the Christian Doctrines, I believe that the doctrine of original sin is one that we struggle the most to communicate in the context of a contemporary world view.  That little baby just doesn’t appear to be representative of “total depravity” and deserving of nothing but eternal damnation.

“You want some food for thought concerning original Sin?  We cannot perceive the world except through our own eyes, meaning that our world view will always be self-centered, and our actions so disposed.”  This is a paraphrase of a comment that Dr. Roy Harrisville made in one of my seminary classes.  It deserves some thoughtful consideration.

About twenty years ago, Lutheran Community Services conducted a parenting class in my congregation.  I will always remember the observation they shared.  “The work of adolescence is differentiation.  Many parents see this as ‘rebellion’, but in truth, every adolescent must differentiate themselves from their parents in order to prepare to enter into adulthood.”

Martin Buber writes in “I and Thou”, (pg 112):

“Egos appear by setting themselves apart from other egos.
Persons appear by entering into relation to other persons.
One is the spiritual form of natural differentiation, the other that of natural association.
          The purpose of setting oneself apart is to experience and use, and the purpose of that is ‘living’—which means dying one human life long.
          The purpose of relation is the relation itself—touching the You.  For as soon as we touch a You, we are touched by a breath of eternal life.

This is the cycle of not only human relationships, but of the entirety of creation.  Differentiation and Association.  Each entity, whether it be the celestial bodies, or developing fetus within a mother’s womb, the galaxies and solar systems, the emerging cells within each living thing, are continually and simultaneously in this process of differentiation and association.

It is for the sake of Love that God created the world.  And God’s ultimate purpose is loving intimacy with all of creation, and with each individual person.  But intimacy with an Other, requires both differentiation and association.  In other words, we had to first be able to say “No!”, in an adolescent like rebellion in order that we could then say “Yes!” to the invitation to loving intimacy with God.  God had unity prior to the creation of the world.  All that was, was God.  But in creating the Other, God sacrificed unity for the sake of intimacy.  Differentiation of our wills from God’s may well be seen as an act of defiance, and often it is exactly that.  But in that God’s ultimate purpose is an intimate loving relationship with each of us and all of creation, it is also a necessary precondition for our being able to associate with God, in love.