God doesn't make trash

There's no rose like a wild rose

“How come we never talk about sin anymore?” she asked. We were a liberal congregation off the beaten path in Northern Manitoba, but our roots were elsewhere. For her, possibly, in a southern Manitoba congregation steeped for generations in sin theology: we are all bad, all the time, and our struggles are twofold, 1) to work hard to stifle our tendency to choose bad, and 2), to accept that our badness is so irredeemably bad that God’s son had to be killed as a sin offering, thereby purchasing our forgiveness.

Bad, bad, bad. Sin, sin, sin 24/7.

Although fraught with sinister connotations, sin is, after all, just a word. It’s phonetically similar to six and bin, to sit and tin. But because its use over time has encouraged us to see the world through the paradigm of two columns labeled “sin” and “not sin” and to place thoughts and act into one or the other column, the effect has become both notoriously stifling and destructive. Legalistic to the point where Jesus must be tearing out his hair. Add to that the effect on our self-concept when we insist that the primary characteristic of even the tiniest baby is evil and you’ve probably nailed the reason for not talking about sin anymore.

Far more redemptive is a view of humanity’s thoughts and activities under the headings of creative, destructive or neutral—if we must have categories, that is. Whether seen through our religions or our life experiences hardly matters: the longings in the human heart are for beauty, prosperity, safety, health, love and fulfillment. The struggle to actualize these longings is creative, stymieing people, communities and our world in their creative efforts is destructive.

It’s not complicated algebra. Fashioning and sharing a beautiful vase is creative; smashing a beautiful vase—or owning and hiding it—are destructive acts. Recycling, reusing, reducing are creative, landfills are destructive. Solar panels and wind generators are creative; fossil fuel as an energy source is destructive. Peacemaking is creative; war is massively destructive. Abortion is, arguably, destructive; efforts to prevent inappropriate pregnancies, creative. A “sin” or “not sin” label adds nothing to creative dialogue for finding creative acts relative to any of these.

I live in a world that is beautiful, that is safe, that is prosperous. I am loved and the opportunities for fulfillment are everywhere. I marvel at the creativity and “goodness” all around me, the kindness, joy, generosity of which virtually all my neighbours are capable. True, destructive acts are to be found, but they’re not the rule; they’re the exceptions that prove the rule. And the rule is, “God doesn’t make trash.” Or something similar.

 Let’s all have a creative day, week, month, year . . . life.