Let me start with a story before I get to the subject. Do you know evangelist Billy Graham? Well, I am sure you do. This story is about him. One day, Mr and Mrs Graham were in church and it was offering time. As the collection plate was passed down, Mr Graham threw in a twenty dollar bill by mistake. He then reached out to retrieve it but Mrs Graham briskly slapped his hand. "I meant to throw in ten instead of twenty," Mr Graham chimed in. "Well," said Mrs Graham assuredly. "In God's eyes, it's ten."
Metaphorically, one can learn something from this tale. For me, its about self-righteousness (and it has nothing to do with Billy Graham, of course).
Ever wonder how many Christians have misunderstood this scripture, "Be holy as I am holy"? There are in fact people who took the scripture literally. They are the ones who subscribe to the "entire sanctification" doctrine.
In the extreme, this doctrine, also known as the Holiness Movement, teaches it's followers that they can attain perfection on this side of heaven. That is, at some point in their life, they can defiantly announce to the world that they are holy and perfect as God is! Have you ever wonder how a holy and sinless person looks like? Or acts like? What are his thoughts?
Imagine a church where not one member considers himself blemished by sin. Imagine that you, a sinful Christian, is about to enter a church of the spotless lamb, where everybody are blameless and sinless. If such a church really do exist, and you are allowed entry (most probably in the sinners' section), don't you think you would feel completely out of place? My god, you'd be the only one without the "halo"! (Not to mention the oppressive guilt you would be feeling).
As an aside, I think they should just legislate a law to exclude these holy-joneses and holy-janes from society in case they "adulterate" us. Now, levity aside, let's come down to our level: the sinful reality. And I am going for the shock factor just for effect, so pardon me.
The shock is in this quote, "The prerequisite for a good marriage, it seems to me, is the license to be unfaithful." Shocking? Any truth in that quote? Not the license part of course, but the truth that we fall short on our thoughts sometimes. Before you dismiss it, let's take off the mask and quietly answer this question: In our own unguarded moment, when we are up to our ears with disappointments, jaded by life's trials, which seems unrelentingly stoic, aren't we even a tad guilty of that minor transgression of strayed thoughts?
I mean, who amongst us is completely pure in thoughts every second of everyday? Are there any sins amongst us that are so private and guarded that we self-righteously refuse to admit its existence? - which reminds me of the Descartes' twist: "I think, therefore I deny." I know that it has been preached ad infinitum over the pulpit that "you can't prevent birds from flying over you; but you can sure prevent them from building a nest on your head." That's all swell in theory. But what's truly the reality here?
Of course, I will not allow myself to walk in public with a nest perched on my head - to borrow that analogy. It's just silly. But who is to prevent me from secretly or tacitly allowing birds to build a nest at some place only I know. And that I may reserve for myself exclusive access to it at my own time and at my own unguarded pleasure? How's that for a self-righteous double life? After being a Christian for some time, I realized one thing: Christians are generally neurotic about purity, holiness and righteousness.
That above Billy Graham example also taught me one thing about us: We do good only at our own convenience. In other words, we give only when we know for sure that what we get out of it exceeds what it costs us. That's the modern day version of religious practices. It's all about what is it in for me. This is self-righteousness in a nutshell. Basically, self-righteousness is a snobbery attitude where sin is usually the other person. And self-righteous is addictive because it makes us feel good about ourselves.
One preacher puts it this way, "Let me show you the process: self-righteousness starts with convictions (a good thing), then moves to discussion (another good thing), and finally falls into the devil's trinity of dismissal, demonization, and destruction (some very bad things)." So, self righteousness is to be avoided at all costs. It makes donkey asses out of us and it reeks badly in public.
Here's the part where I offer a solution or an antidote to self-righteousness. It's another hard-to-swallow, radical prescription: Be free to sin! Please don't stone me. In my defence, allow me to borrow the words of Jesus on this, "let those without sin cast the first stone." And beloved, that's my point. I truly believe that one of the problems with religion is that we spent so much time and effort avoiding sins (which we all know is a lost cause) that we have failed to realize the transformative value of committing one in the first place.
In fact, I think the neurotic act of avoiding sin is what makes self-righteous donkeys out of us. So, the solution is: Why avoid sins when you can be free to commit one? Please hold on to that self-righteous stone before you hurl it at me.
Here comes the main point of my letter. There is a beautiful scripture in the Bible that reads, "The sacrifices of God are a broke spirit; a broken heart and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise". Jesus reminded us that he has come for the sick and not the well. It is written that it is better to be in the house of wailing than one of rejoicing. The scripture also said that "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
And you can look up at Jesus' ministry. It's all about sinners and their sins. We can round up the usual suspects like prostitutes, the thief, the corrupt tax collector, the ear-slicer, the liars and the cowards. Then, we have the exemplary Biblical heroes: Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David and the Jeremiads. What distinguishes them all? Yes, sin. They all fall, and some fell badly. We are no exception.
A Russian novelist and playwright once said, "I don't know what the heart of a bad man is like, but I know what the heart of a good man is like and it is terrible." But the falling is just half the story because sin does things to you. It changes you. It wakes you up. So, sin should not be avoided, it should be confronted. I always thought that the flip side of sin-avoidance is self-righteousness. Agree?
Just think about it. Unless you are a member of the church of the spotless lamb, everywhere you go, you are entrapped by sin-stained people. And the more you avoid them, the more you strangle your own social circle. Further, temptation is everywhere. This is a fallen world with fallen world consequences.
So, how do you keep yourself from sinning? I believe that avoiding sins at all costs like the Pharisees makes neurotics out of us. Remember Jesus' description of the Pharisees, "Whitewashed tombs"? Here is the thin line. Sin has consequences and we can take it for granted. So, I am not advocating that we sin intentionally. That would be too easy. I am merely asking that we stop looking at sin the way self-righteous people do and see it for what it's worth. I am just sharing the same old gospel of sin from another angle.
Nietzsche once said derisively, "The last Christian died on the Cross." Though it is ironical, I would like to borrow his quote to further my point. Jesus set the precedent on the issue of sin. He neither avoided it nor indulged in it. He confronted it. He confronted it in the lives of the people he encountered. And in confronting it, Jesus changed lives for good. Most of all, He died confronting it so that we are no longer slave to it. The cross is a powerful symbol of how ugly sin is and at the same time, how purposeful it can be.
You see, the equation will not work without sin. Redemption is meaningless in a perfect world (just like male nipples...sorry, just have to add that in). Does the well need to get well? So here's the subtext: By all means, sin all you want. But as creatures of the divine grace, it is my belief that the more we sin, the more we need redemption. And the more we need redemption, the more we will be transformed.
If sin is faithful to do it's work, it will do it thoroughly. It will bring us to such depth that we will cry out for a savior before it completely devours us. And when that time comes, when we can neither turn left nor right, when all seems hell-bound, our savior waits with open arms to purchase us to Himself. This is the ultimate act of redemptive forgiveness. This is the value of sin: it's risk notwithstanding, its reward can truly be outstanding.
This also squares with what Jesus told the woman who anointed him with oil, "Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." That's the paradox of sin and it's power of personal transformation. In short, this is what God's grace is all about.
A pastor once said, "Love that goes upward is worship; Love that goes outward is affection; Love that stoops is grace". Indeed grace is a "dirty" word. It goes beyond the superficiality of our appearance. It cuts to the marrow and the tissue of life. It delves into the inner recesses of our heart where our darkest thoughts are. And it deliver us from there; where it really matters, where it truly counts.
Let me end with this compelling quote from Ronald Rolheiser, in his book, The Holy Longing, "To be connected with the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers, and hypocrites of every description. It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul within every time, country, race, and gender. To be a member of the church is to carry the mantle of both the worst sin and the finest heroism of soul...because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion. God hung among thieves."
