Friday, April 24, 2015

Sanctioning Sin

sanc·ti·fy
ˈsaNG(k)təˌfī/
verbset apart as or declare holy; consecrate.
"a small shrine was built to sanctify the site"
synonyms:consecrate, bless, make holy, hallow, make sacred, dedicate to God
"he came to sanctify the site"
make legitimate or binding by religious sanction.
"they see their love sanctified by the sacrament of marriage"
synonyms:approve, sanction, condone, vindicate, endorse, support, back, permit,
allow, authorize, legitimize
"we must not sanctify this outrage"
free from sin; purify.
synonyms:purify, cleanse, free from sin, absolve, unburden, redeem
"they sanctified themselves"


So, let's jump into the deep end of the pool. There is so very much to say on the broad topic of calling wrong right and right wrong. At the core of it all is the original lie recorded in Genesis and, in my humble opinion, the only lie Satan has ever told. He lacks any sort of creativity and has simply repeated this lie over and over and over and over and over and over...

And all we like sheep (and like Eve) have fallen for it over and over and over and over and over and over...

Here is the lie...

You can be like God deciding right from wrong (Genesis 3:5)

Trace back all the suffering of humanity from the beginning of time and you'll find at the root of it all the utterly selfish belief that we have the ability to discern right from wrong, good from bad, on our own apart from God.

Here is the truth...

We do not possess the capacity to discern right from wrong apart from God

Yet we keep trying to seize control from God. We torture His Word until it yields the permission we seek to engage in aberrant, destructive, selfish behavior so that we can call it holy, sanctified, pure and sacred.

Am I talking about homosexuality? Yes. Am I including the abomination of homosexual marriage? Yes. Those aberrant behaviors are sin. But these are just the current hot buttons. They are not the point of this post.

So let's pause and parse that sentence: "Those aberrant behaviors are sin."

An aberration is something that diverges from normal with normal being defined as the generally accepted state. Heterosexuality is by far and away the normal state in which humans were created to exist. Which makes homosexuality an aberration. This is not a statement of judgment. It is a statistical fact.

It is not God's intention for us to live in an aberrational state. That's where sin comes into play. Sin broke into our existence corrupting God's original design and intention. Simultaneous to the outbreak of sin at the time of the fall came the enticing lie that we could shake off the shackles of God's definitions of right and wrong and decide for ourselves. So sin created aberrational states and the lie gave us the confidence to declare aberration sanctified.

Ever since we have raised our fists to the sky, hurled invectives at the heavens and torn the fabric of civil society insisting on calling holy behaviors born out of the darkness of sin. Instead of dealing head-on with our brokenness and surrendering to the only one who truly has the capacity to define right and wrong, we fight tooth and nail for permission to live out every aberrational urge and be called blessed.

But here's the rub...even if every single living human being came together in a chorus of agreement without a single voice of dissent heard anywhere on the planet declaring sin holy it would not make it so. And that goes for every sinful behavior we license and embrace. Gluttony, lust, sloth, infanticide (abortion), euthanasia, homosexuality, gossip, greed, and the list goes on and on.

We don't do ourselves or our fellow sojourners on this planet any favors when we acquiesce to their demands and agree that sin isn't sin. Because we don't have the authority to do that. We've never had that authority. We will never have that authority. And pretending we do simply allows us to avoid the difficult work of engaging in a relationship with our mysterious, unfathomable, perplexing Creator God. The one who designed us, has a plan for us, has an intention for us and who loves us so much He sent His only Son to restore balance to the universe and the relationship He longs to have with us.

So we are left with broken hearts. My heart is broken for everyone. Because all of us are impacted by sin. My heart is particularly broken for those who relentlessly insist they do have the authority to decide right from wrong. Because they are fighting to live a life that is so much less than God wants for them. And this is not a behavior exclusive to homosexuals. It is endemic in the human population. And it has a solid foothold in organized religion where deciding right from wrong has been elevated to an art form. I am guilty of having insisted on deciding right from wrong and living years in misery as I avoided the correction and discipline of my loving Heavenly Father.

Enough for now. Next I'll tackle the other big lie we have embraced that, in combination with the first, creates a toxic atmosphere none can survive. And my guess is some who are reading this article are already dismissing me (or worse) assuming I ascribe to this lie. We'll find out.

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