The recent Olympics Drag Queen ‘Last Supper’ controversy riled everyone up, including me—not because it happened, but because of how Christians engaged with it. One pastor posted his concern about the Christian outrage and vehement rhetoric. It went viral. The comments railed against him were harsh, to have more confidence in calling sin “sin” and confronting the evil in the world, that he was sinning by approving of sin. Here’s the thing: those comments are evil and sinful. That pastor did call out sin and sinners wouldn’t have it. Such reactions reflect a Christian’s inability to address their lack of love, faith, and hope, revealing their unaddressed sins. The demand to throw the first stone, I’m sorry people, is a sin. If you’re holding a rock in your hand (or have just thrown one), you can’t walk away from Jesus without your name written in the sand.
The Hypocrisy of Christian Outrage
Do we forget that Jesus was born under Roman oppression in a theological nation-state? Do we forget that the Apostle Paul told the people of Rome to “keep the peace with all men as much as it depends on you”? Do we forget Jesus’ behavior with sinners and tax collectors? Do we ignore his anger and retort against the religious? Don’t we see it was those who assumed they had their faith figured out and the problem lay elsewhere? Do we not see ourselves in the older son while we attempt to crucify the younger?
Frankly, Christians, from one addict to another, get over your butt hurt. It doesn’t smell or look like Jesus. And, if I may, why aren’t we reacting to these things in the same way?
The Modern Church’s Misunderstanding of Sin
American Evangelicals grow up hearing what sin is, being taught what sin is, and pointed towards examples of sin. Getting such a definition off is dangerous when we’ve been raising our kids in it for generations. Many young people who have grown up in the church leave for college only to realize that the people they heard about weren’t as evil and denigrated as they thought. They also learn how judgemental and controlling the church was. Many today are also leaving the church out of boredom, tired of hearing the same battle drums and experiencing the same toxic-parent relationship their local churches expect without any change on the church’s part. We think God is so black and white, vocal in his opinions of outward behavior that if we mask our behavior with enough Jesus and God talk, then we are good. When we can’t be transparent with others, there is something not aligned within us.
This is at the heart of taking the Lord’s name in vain or being a false prophet and speaking on behalf of God. It was at the heart of Jesus’ teaching that sin starts in our hearts well before an action is committed. We do it in our lives when we take anything that confirms our bias and assume it must be the truth. Or when we ignore the truth clearly in front of us for the substitute of reality we’ve been working so hard on. I did it as an alcoholic, as a pastor, as a husband, as a father, and as a son, and I try my damned best not to do it today. I was proficient. Our need for validation runs deep, so deep we will make God and others into our image.
The Consequences of Unaddressed Sin
Sin is not a crime. We can make the analogy, but that is not what it means. Sin is a Hebrew word that some Jews translated into Greek for their Old Testament, and some other Jews who followed this one rabbi recorded their story to spread throughout the world. That was 2000+ years ago. It was only 500 years ago when Western theologians first started looking at sin in a criminal justice way. It’s why Calvin killed Michael Servetus for heresy—Calvin broke Christ’s One Command that Jesus gave the night before he would be executed innocently for teaching heresy and corrupting the youth. Calvin couldn’t see his contradiction, the logical inconsistencies, and the blatant ignorance of Jesus’ central command.
By his own admission, he struggled with “demons.” Calvin was also working with what he had—a monolith Catholic church-state that was not so Jesus-like either. Calvin was also not the first; there was plenty of blood spilled before Calvin. We were killing other Christians who didn’t agree with us, ignoring that God never demands a human sacrifice and that He commanded us not to murder. Michael Servetus wasn’t the only victim of Calvin’s Geneva. During an epidemic, from 1542 – 1546, 58 women and men suspected of being witches were sentenced to death. In June 1566, a 15-year-old schoolboy was convicted on charges of homosexuality and sentenced to death by drowning.
Why are we so adamant about calling abortion murder but will redefine murder when it’s a Christian “hero”?
Even trying to verify sources and weed through the Reformed defenses online, the bald facts of fifty-eight executions and seventy-six banishments are evident. How is sin not in this? Why can’t Calvinists admit it? The same reason all Christian kingdoms ultimately fail – we are human and there, again, lies the problem – not out there but in here. How was this not a greater sin than the people whom they killed and exiled? We are comfortable, always, talking about other people’s sins. How well is the church at being honest with and about itself? Is it really Jesus they serve or is it themselves? Most today, looking at the fruit of several generations of American Christianity, have not seen the fruit of the Spirit. If we want to be hard-nosed on Scripture, if the fruit we are producing isn’t the Spirit, it’s sin. Because, again, the problem lies within and not outside.
Revisiting the Meaning of Sin
What is sin then, if not a criminal justice code? It’s important to remember that we have “codes” and societal systems because of sin, and not the other way around. A criminal justice system, not like ours or Calvin’s by any means, was not around then. The justice systems we have today already don’t look much like the ones we started to figure out 100 years ago. They viewed the world differently 2000 years ago. They were in an Eastern, ancient time. Then the Jews were constantly overrun by the world. Then a Jewish sect, which eventually became known as Christians, went viral. How they viewed sin matters more to our understanding of Scripture than how we American independent popes view it now. In fact, if we get it wrong, we get the rest of the “equation” wrong.
So, what is sin? Some think sin first shows up in the Bible in Eden when Eve eats the fruit. That’s fair, but the word doesn’t show up there. Sin is not mentioned at all. It’s absent. What is also absent in chapter 3 is the foretold death that would come if they ate of the tree. We, again, 2000 years removed in history and thousands of miles in culture, think of this death as something else now. We’ve been taught from birth what it meant. Have you considered it might have been something different?
Personal Reflections on Sin and Redemption
Sin and death are both absent in chapter 3, but immediately show up in the next chapter, in Adam and Eve’s kids. Hey…parents. Pause here. Think about yourself and your being—how much does it influence your kids, even if you’re not present and around? How much weight, power, responsibility, and calling do you have for the life you hand off to your kids? And here is the harder question: how much of their issues will be because of you? I’m so far from having the relationship with my kids I want, and I get it. From the financial wreckage I accrued to the uncertainty I can see in them of me now: “Is this real? Is he actually sober? Why can’t he be here more?” Their lack of interest in staying connected to me I have to make allowances for. My shame rotted within me justified avoidance and inflated distractions. We are, as humans, in many ways, just another cycle of parents producing kids to hand the world off to.
Sorry, back to Genesis—sin and death show up in Adam & Eve’s kids. Cain is jealous of his younger brother, Abel. Abel’s offering was pleasing to God while Cain’s wasn’t. But God shows up right away to Cain. Up to this point, sin and death still haven’t been mentioned and Cain hasn’t seemed do anything wrong: “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7).
It would seem like Cain had not “sinned” yet, but was close. God warned him about what was in his heart—”sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” God uses the same words with Adam & Eve when describing the tension couples would have now as a result of their need to claim Good and Evil for themselves—”Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). The problem in Genesis 4 is just the out-working of Genesis 3. This is what the shame of Genesis 3 produces. Sometimes we label it as pride, and that’s fine, but pride is always birthed in shame. If you meet a narcissist, you’ve met one of the most insecure people on earth. By the way, all active addicts are narcissists…and, also, most Americans are addicts. There is plenty to be addicted to, even your choice of faux-Jesus.
From Genesis 1-2, there is this clear teaching that we are not animals. We cover this in Sunday school and Bible college. When an animal tempts Eve and the silent Adam in the background, we crouch lower in our existence. We ignore what Marcus Aurelius and Greek stoics called our logos, the part of us that animals clearly don’t have, the thing that makes us human and able to do human things. The Jews had a similar concept with the Spirit.
Genesis 3-4 makes it clear that when we turn our shame outward, when we hide, cover, and blame, as Adam and Eve did, stuff starts to go sideways. Our eyes were “opened” to a new way of judging the world—based on covering and position. There was no culture war or undermining of traditional marriage then. It was as simple as it can be. The undermining, the “fall” is what happens actually in their marriage, their relationships, not before. Sin eats, spreads, and destroys human’s perceptions of themselves and others. Genesis 3 is much more than just about Adam and Eve – it’s about your personal relationships, not others. Yes, people getting married who are not ready for an authentic and trusting relationship is not a thing to take lightly, but it is not your world to rule over. In fact, draw a circle around your concern in your mind—that is sin crouching at your door.
The True Mission of the Church
Sin is dehumanizing yourself and others. It violates Creation and our position in it. It is separating yourself from reality and then judging others for your life. It is shame turning into pride. It is the opposite direction of humility, self-reflection, love, and authenticity. We have enough anger, hatred, and vitriol in our rage against the world. We need the reminder that “its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” God told Cain that he must rule over it, and Jesus said you can do all things through him. Paul said you don’t need to keep sinning and God always provides the means to handle it or a way out. If you’re thinking about other people, you’re not hearing the Word. Jesus’ Way, Truth, and Life provide a way, a model, and a means for those struggling with their sins. It does not offer those who don’t want to deal with their sin a weapon to control others by – that was Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. Not through culture wars, not through screaming, and not through your own frustration, annoyance, and distraction, but through you alone getting your life straight.
Steps Towards Healing and Authenticity
Maybe some of you can relate. I hope you can. If not, you can skip this last part because it won’t mean much to you. If you’ve got your list of regrets, then maybe you’ll understand. There is a life I have today that is only possible because of Jesus – and it messes me up. I love reading Stoic philosophy and observing the greater sciences of humanity. I love what they say about relationships, logic, and interactions. Psychology and philosophy are at a different point in history now – so is Christianity. The more I study, the more I am convinced of the one way forward—the way Jesus invited us. I don’t think the call is what we’ve made it. I think we confuse people with the gospels we throw into the mix.
The beautiful thing is that this call is no longer just found within the controlled message of churches – it’s everywhere. Our ego, lack of forgiveness, selfishness, pride, fear, distractions, and assumptions are all falling apart in our own hands – humanity, in some sense, is coming to an end itself, just as the dysfunctional and bifurcated reality I was living eventually collapsed in on itself. As people are looking around, they are also faced with this inescapable conclusion – only I am responsible for myself. Getting to be okay with that, for me, has taken ripping apart everything about me and seeing what was left over to work with.
The reason we can live free is that Jesus invites us to something more than just another culture war or exclusive club. The Church, as it’s called to be, is a hope of the world, but our American Evangelical tradition is not. If we can distinguish that, we can become what we are meant to be. The Church is not your attendance, your money, your service. It is the people and the souls who are committed to this mission of God (if you get His mission wrong, there will also be detrimental consequences). It is not your anger or your opinion about drag queens, politics, transgenders, or abortion. The Church is what it looks like for humans to live under God’s grace and salvation. It is what it looks like to live in reality and build a community of support and love.
So if we can back off and start actually addressing our own stuff, our own worries, and insecurities, maybe we can start to rule over sin instead of passing it on and ruling over others. Maybe the answer to the turmoil inside you is not a better president, a revival, a reformation, or a church membership. Maybe it’s not the next book, the next relationship, the next job, or the next purchase. Maybe it’s a small step towards faith, hope, and love. Maybe it’s that one relationship you’ve been avoiding. Maybe it’s a trusted therapist and a best friend. Maybe it’s the apology you buried in distractions and self-justifications years ago. Maybe it’s more exposure to those outside of your comfort so you can understand the thing that scares you so much. Maybe it’s talking to the neighbor next door who annoys you. Or maybe it’s attending a religious function you haven’t gone to yet. Maybe it’s putting down the drink or even leaving a church. Whatever it is, we all need healing. If we pretend like we don’t need that, then we will just be passing on our shame and insecurity to our kids, our neighbors, and our world.
Ruling Over Jesus
The problem with the Christian outrage to the Last Supper Drag Queen controversy is their hypocrisy. Most of the same people will label any criticism on Trump as an attack on faith. However, he’s attempting to peddle crap Bibles and can’t even quote a bible verse. Sure, he has a lot of Bibles in his house – there in lies his sin. He held up “God’s word” as a tool, a gimmick, and propaganda, so we wouldn’t see his plank, his pornstar hook up, his unimpressive business dealings, and his flailing lies. He uses Jesus and God any chance he can get. Yet, this man is somehow supposed to represent “conservative values”? Where has the Christian zeal to burn heretics at the stake gone?
Their false selves are on display—people who were acting out from what they feel they “should” be doing and feeling. The error is thinking Evangelicals only have it figured out. It’s egotistical. People are in deep pain and resentment at the world they live in now, including those Evangelicals. Church growth today is mainly just finding disenfranchised churchgoers -every church planter knows what I’m talking about. People who have believed a lie, like Adam and Eve, can only blame, hide, and dehumanize. People who live from their false selves and do not experience the freedom in Christ promised. The pastor who addressed the church’s lack of love and grace was crucified by the American Evangelical mob, an American mob not unlike the Jewish/Roman one that crucified their King.
We ignore Jesus’ words that His kingdom is not of this world and, if it were, his disciples would be fighting. Look around – Jesus’ “disciples” are fighting as this world does. They commit the same sin the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians and Judeans committed when they hung a heretic. They were upset over the fact that he took control away from them, that he was popular with the people they once had, that he said things they didn’t agree with, and that they couldn’t stop him.
Sin was crouching at their door and they ruled over Jesus.
