Friday, May 12, 2006
Recently on a website for bass players I hand out at, we've been discussing original sin. Musicians are interesting people to discuss spirituality with. Most are very emotionally aware people. At the same time many are scientists. The discussions can get very heated. I have been blessed that the members of this website give me a lot of latitude to talk about the love of God, so I get to be involved in some very long and deep discussions. So, the subject of original sin has come up. Is the story of Adam and Eve real, or just a metaphor from which we are to learn a greater truth. (I will say this about musicians, they have a really hard time accepting that there is one ultimate truth). This has brought me heavily into thinking about Gregory Boyd's book that I mentioned a couple of days ago, "Repenting of Religion." Boyd spends much of this book talking about the fact that God means for us to live in the Tree of Life, and not in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is this book that finally pushed me to start this blog because I think Boyd really has touched on the key issue in bringing life back into our relationship with God, and back into the church in such a way that people will be drawn to the church rather than repelled from it.
Living The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil means that we create a value for ourselves by judging others. This is not how God wants us to live, in fact, we learn from Adam and Eve that God forbids us to live there. Why? Because we are not able to know everything that makes another person who he or she is. God, on the other hand knows every twist and turn an individual has taken in life to make them the person they are today. So, when we judge another person we are suggesting that we are equal to God in power and ability. We know that isn't true! So, my brothers and sisters, the next time that you find yourself wanting to judge another person. Stop for a moment. Consider the love that God has for you. Consider the sins that He has forgiven you, and that He will forgive when we fall again. Consider who Jesus spent His time with on earth and how He treated them. Then, take a moment to adjust your level of love for the person you were thinking about judging. God loves us all. He wants every person to come to a saving relationship with Christ. Let us be His ambassadors. Let us live in The Tree of Life.
Living The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil means that we create a value for ourselves by judging others. This is not how God wants us to live, in fact, we learn from Adam and Eve that God forbids us to live there. Why? Because we are not able to know everything that makes another person who he or she is. God, on the other hand knows every twist and turn an individual has taken in life to make them the person they are today. So, when we judge another person we are suggesting that we are equal to God in power and ability. We know that isn't true! So, my brothers and sisters, the next time that you find yourself wanting to judge another person. Stop for a moment. Consider the love that God has for you. Consider the sins that He has forgiven you, and that He will forgive when we fall again. Consider who Jesus spent His time with on earth and how He treated them. Then, take a moment to adjust your level of love for the person you were thinking about judging. God loves us all. He wants every person to come to a saving relationship with Christ. Let us be His ambassadors. Let us live in The Tree of Life.
