Politics and the Pulpit-Part 2 (The Problem of Sin)

Politics and the Pulpit continues with the contemplation of the problem of sin. It was sin and vanquishing sin that drove Kostas* from the pew of my new, little, country church. It might have been his sin, the sin that he saw on the evening news or a combination of both. I guess at this juncture, I should include the sin of the lying news outlets of our day. I am talking about sin after all so I might as well be thorough.

Let us start out with a definition of the word sin. Sin is a term used in marksmanship. I learned that in a real way when my youngest daughter excelled in the summer bow and arrow competition that occurred at her summer camp. There was the target, that is the mark that you wish to hit in the center of the field, and then there was missing your mark which was sin.

When we miss our goal in any moral way and we do not follow God, then, we are said to sin. I had an interesting conversation with a friend from Westchester County, New York today. Crystal* told me that it is possible through observation to ascertain what is good and what is evil. She explained that a good deed is not self-seeking. She further went on to tell me that she believes that others, beside those who are Christian, go to heaven because of their good actions.

I told her that everything she told me goes against what God explicitly stated in the Bible. I began with the possibility that any of us are good. We may look good, we may desperately think we are good, and we may even manage to have done quite a few good things, but that does not make us good. Why? Because, we are all sinners and sooner or later we lie, steal, cheat, rape or even kill. 

Did you ever notice that when a crime is committed how often people don’t believe their friend or family member could be capable of the crime?  Some of the things people exclaim are : “My husband is suspected of murder, he must be innocent!” “I did not raise my child to do that.” “She would never hurt a fly.” People often see superficial attributes and do not understand the deep struggle that people are having with sin. 

How many of us have followed the story of a serial killer in the news and come to find out that person was charming and volunteered at church, school, the local library or an animal shelter? The Bible says that “Man judges by appearances but God judges by the heart.” We are often hoodwinked by a physically attractive person. An example that comes to mind is the story of “dirty John” who conned a whole lot of love-lorn women out of money, and worse. The documentary about his case was one of the top most viewed shows of its’ kind in 2017.

Why? Because people are struggling with the question of sin. How can we recognize it and avoid being a victim of it? How can we protect our love ones and society from it? Kostas was thinking that our society can vanquish the evil of school shootings, and he might have thought that his Pastor should be doing more to make that happen. 

After God created the world, He pronounced it to be a good thing. It was a good thing, but, it was not very long before the choice to follow God or miss the mark and follow something else occurred. In fact, it was after the creation of the very first man and woman that the choice to sin, or missing the mark of following God occurred. In other words, mankind could not go very long before the temptation of doing whatever was right in their own eyes happened.

The second generation of Adam’s family was no better. Adam and Eve’s son Cain killed his brother Abel and then we hear God tell us that sin is crouching at our door waiting for us to choice it. Even though this lesson resonates for me in my observation of real life (mine and other people’s), there still are those who have proposed alternative theories of existence in opposition to what the Bible teaches. They are just wrong.

The utopian philosophy of communism espouses overcoming sin thru the collective labor of the good and noble proletariat. But since it is based upon a false premise, namely that the proletariat is good, it is doomed to fail, and it has and continues to fail every day. The problem of sin is thorny isn’t it? Is it any wonder that many preachers, if not whole denominations of Christianity have decided to not talk about it? 

But, if you do not talk about the origin and the existence of sin and what the Bible says about it, you can not develop reasonable checks and balances in law enforcement and the judiciary to deal with it effectively. The founding fathers of the United States, were either men of faith or close to it. They wove in the cosmology of the christian faith into their founding documents showing a deep understanding of the doctrine of sin in everything they did. That is what kept the United States moving forward in a positive direction for so long. 

All of that is currently being thrown out the window. The constitution of the United States with its’ discussion of God-given rights and the need and means to control run away government sin is being challenged. In its’s place stands nepotism in the form of race politics, soft on crime ungodly policies and totalitarian control seeping in for those who would debate the facts. When a people discard biblical facts, it will not go well for them. 

How could a true pastor of a church not talk politics when their country is acting in a public way and promoting principles in opposition to God? Politics emerge from the mindset of a people and at any given time they either represent the will of that general public, or the will of some fringe group of people. When a dictator takes over, the people must fight for their freedoms or they are slaves to that new regime. 

Pastors of necessity are always on the front lines of a spiritual war which determine everything in our society and our world. If our pastors do not tell us right from wrong, as outlined in our bible, they are delinquent in their godly duty. The battle for good and against evil is played out on the political field every day. There is no separation of church and state, how could there be? The state should represent the people it governs but often it doesn’t 

Kostas and his wife Sandra,* by stepping away from a church that teaches the real bible, are stepping away from the possibility of real solutions. 

* the names are changed for privacy.

Politics and the Pulpit

When I moved into a new home, in a new state, where I knew no one, one of the first people to reach our to me was a Greek lawyer originally from Long Island. I met him at church. We shared a New York accent, adjustment issues and a love of the new church that we had both chosen to attend. At the center of that church is a man devoted to God. His name is Pastor Nathan.*

Pastor Nathan is a scholar of a man. He shines for the Lord very brilliantly every day. This Pastor could have been a big deal college professor. His parents certainly thought so but, that is not what he was called to do. He was called to be a Pastor. And he is the best little Pastor I ever did meet. 

He teaches the unadulterated truth of the Bible, and compassionately visits the sick. Pastor Nathan visited me frequently in my new home and offered prayers and advise as contractors and workmen hammered and painted away. What a great and godly welcome I felt as I began my new life! He also seems to have a knack for keeping his little sheep in the sheep fold, like a good shepherd ought to. All except for one that is, my new Greek friend from Long Island. 

I spent all last summer cleaning my new house, and unpacking boxes.The warm, and godly email exchanges with my new Greek friend Kostas* were a helpful distraction as I settled in. In those emails I learned that Kostas was a new Christian and that he was currently reading through the entire Bible for the first time. In our email exchanges we contemplated various bible verses as would be mentioned. How uplifting this was as I was in the last stressful stages of selling my old house in Westchester County, New York. Kostas had a fiancée who was finalizing the sale of her house in Florida. We commiserated on all of the horrible bureaucratic details of our sales and how much we missed our loved ones. What a comfort for both of us. There were just so many parallels in our lives.

Kostas was keenly interested in delving deeply into the Bible and recognized the unique ability of Pastor Nathan to teach and preach the truth of that text. All seemed to be going smoothly for Kostas as he made a transition to his new life as a Christian. He grew up in a home that espoused the Greek Orthodox tradition of Christianity but, it never did seem to click with him. 

As most new believers, he was passionate about the precious gift of salvation that he had received from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He wondered about sharing that faith and spoke of handing out literature at a local farmer’s market. He even spoke about starting a legal service in our area to help people who could not afford legal representation. He was busting at the seams looking for ways to know Jesus and to make Him known. It was inspirational for a long-time believer, such as me, to see this love of a new believer unfolding.

Just as Kostas was settling into his new home, he was blessed to meet a woman, Sandra* at a church service. Sandra was a woman who had known the Lord since an early age. She was visiting a sister who lives in the area. She seemed like a perfect helpmate for Kostas and he seemed perfect for her. They fell in love and wanted to get married. I was invited to attend their wedding late last summer. They did not know many people in the community but the church community came out in full-force to cheer them on. 

It was one of my first social events in a new community. I felt blessed to be part of their wedding celebration. Kostas thanked me for being a part of their happy event. Our friendship was growing. We even began to plan a lunch at his favorite restaurant. My new godly friendships with Pastor Nathan, his wife Aby*, Kostas and Sandra were an answered prayer and I was thanking God for them daily. What could possibility go wrong? 

Well, here are a few possibilities of things that could go wrong. Bringing New York idols to your new home for one. There is an old saying, you can take a man out of New York, but can you take the New York out of the man? Then there is the new believer syndrome. This is a cluster of symptoms including perfectionism, biblical illiteracy and spiritual immaturity. 

Kostas did indeed treat us to a lovely Greek meal and I invited him and his new wife to join my husband and I at a local greenhouse for a flower arranging class. I felt he was grouchy at the greenhouse. Perhaps, in retrospect, it would have been more fun if Sandra and I did the class together and let the guys do something else. I thought the event would offer us all an opportunity to get better acquainted. If he did not wish to participate, he could have declined the invitation.

But, a strange fact was emerging in my relationship with Kostas. I believe that Kostas was more comfortable talking to me online rather than in person. There is a lot of that going around these days. People enjoy talking online but in-person the relationship fails. However, when we did share time in person, I felt that he was looking for a more dynamic church. He asked me a number of times what was my opinion on church revival. Was he looking for a more outward looking church? Was evangelization central to what he thought the mission of a church should be? 

Interestingly enough, it might have been God equipping him to live the life of a lawyer that was now touching his heart with a mission to use his gifts to reach others for Jesus. But, what of Pastor Nathan? I wondered if he was beginning to think differently of him as time went on. Like a romance, the thing that we fall in love with in another person over time no longer compels us the way it did before. Kostas loved the amazing exegesis that Pastor Nathan brings to any bible study, but perhaps he though that our little church in the country needed more.

I sensed he was pulling away from my husband and I as time went by too. Sad to think that one of the first friends that I made could just cut us off so quickly. He talked of inviting my husband for coffee but never followed through. I gave him space since he was a newlywed but, I sensed a growing discontent growing within him. In conversation with my husband, he brought up a number of hot-button political issues. My husband felt there was no context that could explain why Kostas brought these topics up except perhaps that they were on his mind and bothering him.

In the meantime, as all that drama was building up to an eventual crescendo, I was getting to know Sandra in a special way. She was part of the church craft club that I have been developing since late winter. A group of us craft loving Christian ladies have been getting together once a month to sing hymns, pray and craft. Sandra came forward to offer me support, “in any way that you need it.” This worked out perfectly when I fractured my shoulder and she came forward to do a craft and share her Christian testimony in an upcoming class. 

I can’t tell you how blessed and fortunate that I felt knowing that while I was recuperating from an injury, there is someone to take over the reins of the operation. This is truly what a body of Christ is supposed to look like. So, I relaxed and enjoyed all the leisure time that I had since I would not have to prepare a craft class for the May meeting. I relaxed until that fateful Sunday when everything went haywire!

It started out like any other Sunday morning. Our church greeters for the day were the very cheerful and chipper Kostas and Sandra. Nothing seemed wrong as Sandra handed me my weekly bulletin and bible study notes. Since it was five days until the craft class I wanted to affirm with Sandra that she would indeed be playing a hymn on the piano for the event. She warmly said, “oh you don’t have to worry about that, I have it covered.” I grabbed my bulletin and scurried to my pew as the service was about to begin. 

The Pastor had already begun announcements when I sat down. In a moment he would be reminding people about the church craft class and asking people to raise their hand if they thought they would be attending. No problem here, Sandra was one of the sea of hands I saw raised when the Pastor made his inquiry. At this point, I was just taking note of the numbers as I would be preparing a small luncheon for the day. 

Before long, it would be prayertime and I believe that Pastor Nathan would commit an unpardonable sin in Kostas’ mind. Pastor Nathan did not pray the way Kostas thought he should and he even preached a sermon from the letter of first John about love that was biblical but not au courant.

In other words, Pastor Nathan following his calling to preach the Bible as it is without interpreting it away and Kostas found out in his young Christian walk that he did not believe that. It is one thing to go running to a message of redemption and eternal life, it is quite another to understand this world in terms of God’s thoughts, which are higher than ours, and God’s plans. 

It seems that Politics and the Pulpit clarifies what it is that you and I believe. The choices are clear. God has a design and purpose for our lives, our families and the world and that is outlined in the Bible. We must act in accordance with God’s purposes including how we vote and what policies that we support. 

The whole reason Kostas walked out of our church is because of what he believed about the shootings that recently occurred in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. Pastor Nathan prayed and offered an explanation of the events in the context of a biblical discussion of sin. After that, the Pastor continued in his sermon series on the first letter of John. Kostas went ballistic and ran out of the church as soon as the service concluded. 

Why did he do that? Because, the issues of life divide us. They do not and will not bring us together. They may even bring us to the brink of war. Kostas is looking for the answers that would solve the issues of sin, such as shootings. Kostas beliefs seem to indicate that he thinks if we Christian’s all got together we could stop school shootings. Kostas doesn’t understand that our nature is to sin and that Jesus is the only solution. Even as regards war, the book of Isaiah, chapter 2, verse 4 tells us that God is the only force that will stop war when he, beats their swords into plowshares. 

Kostas brought a whole lot of New York attitude to his new church and since Pastor Nathan failed to genuflect at the altar of political correctness and instead illuminated the deeper meaning of the situation, a division had occurred. Kostas informed the Pastor that he would no longer be attending the church. That day, I also found an email from Kostas telling me that it was “nice knowing us” and oops, “he is sorry that Sandra would not be coming to the craft class” that she was supposed to run in five days.

He was barely civil to me. How is this godly behavior? I was left putting together a class on very short notice. And, what of the judgement upon the Pastor, who is given authority by God to fulfill a mission. Where is the respect for someone anointed by God to guide and direct his congregation? Didn’t even the anointed King David leave room for the proper de-throning of King Saul before he began his reign?

Kostas never gave the Pastor nor I any explanation about why he was leaving or why he was so cold to us. I believe the reason that Kostas left the church is that he was grappling with the “sin question.” I don’t think he understands how sin permeates our earthly lives. He thought he was grappling with a bad Pastor or ineffective prayer. He might have even thought that he was fighting for what was right.

In reality, he was simply an immature Christian who did not understand the underlying spiritual issue behind the recent shootings. When we see the shedding of innocent blood so callously and cruelly, we have come face to face with the outcome of sin. The Bible teaches us that “all sin is lawlessness.” 

It is important to understand, when we see lawlessness such as looting of department stores, rape, or school shootings, we are looking sin square in the face. In order to deal with sin, we must start with an understanding of what it is. If you don’t understand the sin problem, you can not fashion an effective solution. The premise helps to form the conclusion. Kostas, was not on the right page. He thought that gun control, or efforts to eleviate mental illness or poverty were the answers. Did guns or poverty kill 19 children in Texas or did sin do it? If this young man did not have a gun, would he be a good neighbor, and fine upstanding citizen. Would he use his power for good suddenly or would he still use his strength and prowess to fashion evil actions? 

Of course, he would not be a fine upstanding citizen. His mother had addiction problems in her life, his father has not been mentioned and his grandfather did not hold him accountable for what he did behind the closed doors of his teenage angst-ridden bedroom. He seems to have had a lot of sin around him and he seemed to have learned the business of sin well.

Did poverty cause sin or did sin cause poverty? Are we sometimes poverty stricken because our sinful father has abandoned his responsibilities as a father? The answer is sin-1, virtue-0. What about having a mother who spends money on drugs when we need material support? The answer is sin-2, virtue-0. What about training your child in the way that it should go and in the end it will not depart from what you teach them? I am paraphrasing from the book of Proverbs. That is another point for sin. Sin is up 3 points. 

So, we start with sin and we move to solutions from there. God did that, after all, in the book of Genesis. We see that when sin came into the world, God fashioned a solution. He told us the heel of the savior, that God would send, would be bruised by Satan. But, that Satan would ultimately be crushed by the Savior. In Kostas’ way he was bruised and was suffering from the sight of sin. We all are. 

Angry and frustrated, he believed that he could fashion a solution through political means. The people of Israel instead of being lead by God, chose a political solution when they wanted to have a King. They got King Saul. They could have had God leading them but, they wanted a King. I think Kostas has a lot in common with those ancient peoples.

Next week: Politics and the Pulpit (the problem of sin)-Part 2

* The names are changed.