In Greek, the word for "sin" is amartia. It literally means "to miss the mark." It's an archery term that refers to missing the gold. It's not missing the target, it's missing perfection. I was reminded today at my son's baseball game that missing the target and missing totally are two different things. Such is sin.
I'm thinking of it like darts. It's that lime green section right around the red target. Looking closely at a dart board you see where the marks hit the most. There's little dots covering the middle red, or the ring around it. It shows accuracy. I would see a Christian happy with those results. Then there's the holes you see on the outer edge of the board. Some holes are even on the wall (at least they did on my garage). What the hell happened that day? Lose you temper? Yelled at the kids?
Too bad sin isn't so easy to clarify, quantify and categorize. The world makes sins easy to forget by labeling them a disorder or a problem. It's the whispers of gossip we pass from friend to friend.
He's got a gambling problem. We have clinics and support groups for the various addictions we face, from sex to drugs to alcohol. And if calling them disorders and problems don't erase the word sin from our vocabulary, we call some sins crimes. Crimes can be categorized and given a consequence. I have found that I try and base my sinful nature on the back of someone else's sin. It's not as bad as that guy, I think. It could be worse, I say. But to God, we all fall short.
My son struggled on the mound tonight. His small misses were within the strike zone. He knows that throwing the ball right down the middle is not smart baseball, unless you can throw it by them. My son is a nibbler. He watches the pros eat up batters with off speed pitches and hitting their corners. He had a few full counts on batters, walked two and lost a 10-pitch at bat battle by giving up a 2 run double. His worst miss was the first play of the inning. The first batter hit a comeback up the middle, and like most of the season, my son handled it and readied his throw. But instead of hitting the target of his friend's glove at first base, he threw it high. Eventually the runner scored. Had he made that play early on, maybe he would have made it out of the inning. We just never know sometimes. Even in life, we make mistakes, some huge ones, and we get to wonder if you made that decision or made that change, how would have the rest of the day been? I've always been fascinated with the idea that the stench of sin can linger longer than we ever expected. Sure, we are forgiven by a just and powerful God. And we certainly aren't perfect. But do the sins we have ultimately lead to other events in our life that can stymy the blessings that God has in store for us? I believe God has given us those answers.
Early in the season, my son made the comment that another pitcher on the team "sucked." He's been vocal other times too about an error a teammate makes, always seeing fault in others. The umpires he saves for his biggest rants. After tonight's game, he vowed to never pitch again. Even God is out to get him. When rain threatened a potential cancellation, he said, "God hates me." Do I believe God is sending a message to my 11 year old? I don't believe God wants us to suffer, but I do believe he allows our actions and tongues to lay the red carpet for fate to intervene.
God has always had a plan for his people. The first people to see this were the Israelites. God promised them the land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. The Israelites, as you might know, didn't accept this with one accepting free cash. They mumbled, they grumbled, they grew restless and provoked God's anger when things didn't go their way. In Edwin Cole's book, "Maximized Manhood," Cole describes 5 sins that kept them from Canaan.
Lust.
Fornication.
Idolatry.
Murmuring.
Tempting Christ.
I don't have the blog length to go into all of them. I know eventually I will be journaling and giving some perspective on how they apply to me. But I learned something new on the last one. Cole explains that we tempt Christ when we expect God to intervene and bless us even when we fail to live up to the salvation he has given us. We want the pleasures of sin and the benefits of God's grace. This is contrary to God's will and inconsistent with his character, Cole says. We demand that God provide another way to the cross without having to live a life of discipline.
We cheat in our business dealings and wonder why the business isn't doing better. Children reject "the godly counsel of parents" and wonder why their lives aren't better. We demand social programs from our government, and from the pulpit too, but no one wants to live with the discipline it takes to make a lasting impact that could change a life forever.
I always thought tempting Christ was what Satan did to Jesus when he was in the desert for 40 days. In some ways we do the same. We live one way during the week but expect God bless our endeavors. Reading the book is like being hit with darts to the heart. I've been questioning God's plan for my family since this winter when faced with adversity. I want God to "fix" my family troubles but I'm not willing to do the hard work it takes, the devotions, the prayer, the living the right kind of life. When school was tough I questioned whether or not God was with me, but I was unwilling to make the proper changes in my life to allow God to work.
It's clear God allowed me to lay the red carpet of my fate. He's letting me run my mouth, letting me build my house on pleasures and disobedience, thinking that I'll get blessed on the back end because I play the part on Sundays. It's hard to admit defeat. Instead I have buried my head in my phone, my plate of food, my complaints.
I've been mad at God for so long, not realizing that God could care less about the hoops I jump through to impress others and myself. He wants my heart, not my stack of books I've read on Christianity. He wants my submission, to give over the control of my life, not a spreadsheet of boxes checked that make me an outward Christian.
God never said following him would be easy. However the doors of opportunity reveal the red carpet towards a new life. That's the life I want. That's the life worth living. It's an invitation to Canaan.
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