Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

If we acknowledge that the metaphor of sin as rebellion and God as "Just Judge" is limited and of use in describing both sin and God's way of dealing with it in limited circumstances then we must wonder what other metaphors may be used to describe these things. In Eastern Christianity a very common set of metaphors is to describe sin as a disease which infects the human condition and to think of God in all of the persons as The Great Physician who heals the afflicted and brings wellness and wholeness to those who are sick. This picture of sin and God is derived mainly from Matthew 12:9-13 and offers a compelling metaphor as it comes from the mouth of Jesus itself.

When developed theologically, sin becomes an affliction or disease that affects all of humankind. In the West, it is the sin itself that infects us all while in the East it is the heightened desire to sin the we contract from Adam and Eve and their choices in the Garden. In either case, God is seen as the Physician who comes in to heal all those who seek his aid. As with all untreated disease, the end product of sin is death. God comes to restore wholeness to all who desire it. The passage in John 5 that relates the story of Jesus healing the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda is an example of this. When Jesus asks the man a question, He asks him, "Do you want to be whole?" (Contrary to most translations which translate the passage as "Do you want to be well?" or "Do you want to walk again?") When the man is made well but then denies any responsibility for being healed of his lameness on the Sabbath, Jesus finds him and tells him to stop sinning or worse things will happen than being lame. In this we see that Jesus seeks to do more than just help the guy walk; He wants to make him whole again.

As another example, when Jesus describes the person of the Holy Spirit as streams of living water, He calls forth the life-giving, healing and cleaning properties of running water as a curative to the thirst that keeps one from eternal life. A Jewish reader of this passage would have clearly seen the symbolism of running water as a source of cleanliness and healing. Several passages in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament say that God withholds water due to the sinfulness of the nation of Israel and that He uses water to both save the people and heal the land.

What is interesting is the sense I have that over the last twenty of thirty years, this metaphor, once in more common usage in the mainstream, more liturgical churches in America (as evidenced in songbooks, calls to worship and scholarly commentaries), has slowly fallen out of favor for the more juridical model discussed previously. I think that this is really unfortunate. John Burke is his book, No Prefect People Allowed, suggests that the two issues facing emerging, postmodern generations are addiction and sexual brokenness. Addiction in our culture is usually described as a disease which allows for the use of a "God as Great Physician" model in a very natural way. In addition, such a metaphor leads to the drawing in of and opening up to God to deal with sin rather than Him being separate, distant and judgmental. For this reason, I think it may be time for the North American Church to re-examine and re-energize this particular metaphor. Healing and wholeness are both processes rather than events and thus the metaphor also works well with a model of spiritual formation that focuses on deification or growing closer to God through a lifelong practice of spiritual disciplines. They work well with the idea that our growing more like God does not rely on a single event (justification) but that sin is dealt with through time as a process (sanctification).

For those reading this, I would ask you to consider what it might mean to view others as struggling with a disease rather than looking at them as rebels or criminals. The "Just Judge" model leads one to think of others not as fellow travelers on the journey of faith but as transgressors against it or highway robbers along the trail. Shifting the ground by shifting the metaphor leads to seeing others as battling a hideous sort of cancer that only the best Doctor can treat. The idea then becomes one of helping someone "get an appointment" and supporting them as they try to get better. As a culture we're very good at this sort of relational approach to dealing with real disease (though we still struggle with applying this to addiction) and I think it would help the Church to reach out so much more effectively.

Thanks for Reading. More to Come on this topic.

The Physicist   Link Me    |