The Sin of Shrinking Sin...

I have realized in the past year or so that I have had too small a concept of sin. I have always seen sin as something that is personal rebellion against God. And I think that is obviously true. What I am realizing is that sin also happens corporately. During Apartheid in South Africa there was the personal sin as individuals created and perpetuated Apartheid, but there was also the corporate sin of the system itself. Now maybe this seems to be an unimportant distinction to you, but bear with me. If sin is not just personal, but also corporate, and Jesus came to free us from sin, then it follows that Jesus is in the business not only of changing individuals, but also in changing structures. As I read the Old Testament Prophets they seem to speak against both personal and corporate sin. And they promise that the Kingdom of God, established by the Messiah, will overcome these powers. I've been reminded of these ideas by a book I'm reading - Good News and Good Works by Ron Sider. Here's a quote -

"Jesus' kingdom is clearly wholistic. Thank God that it does bring forgiveness with God and personal, inner sanctification in the power of the Spirit. But it also challenges and changes the social order. The kingdom impacts the soul and body, individual and society. The church properly communicates the Good News of Jesus' kingdom by word and deed: by proclamation, miracles, acts of mercy and justice, and living out the gospel as a winsome example to others. The Good News precludes an inward-looking preoccupation with the church. Howard Snyder puts it pointedly: 'Church people think about how to get people into the church; kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; kingdom people work to see the church change the world.' The church, to be sure, is important. Indeed so important that Jesus' new redeemed community is part of the Good News. God wants the church to be a little miniature now of the coming kingdom." (p.75)

The church is God's picture to the world of what the kingdom is. So we not only need to speak of God's forgiveness for personal sin (and His transforming power over it), but we need to show the world by our actions that God can forgive and transform corporate sin too. That's why care for the poor and needy is so important. It's a visible reminder that God's kingdom has a completely new societal structure. The things that drive the world today just don't fit in the kingdom. Kingdom life is life by totally different criteria. And that challenges all the sinful structures of our society. That's why they killed Jesus. And that's why the church, properly understood, is the most subversive organization/organism in the world today. Jesus came to change our hearts and our world.