Sin

             Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. (Proverbs14:34)

Sin is another word that seems to breed magical thinking. If we sin, then God does something meant to punish. But if you trip the breaker, it makes no sense to complain that the electric company has attacked you. Sin, at its core, is breaking your connection with God and putting yourself in His place. You trip the “breaker,” cutting off any connection with Him, and in many cases, issue an ultimatum saying that the only way there can be peace with us is for Him to bow to us by accepting, approving, and applauding whatever decisions we make. Individuals and groups can do this. Often, the way we choose is sanitized using terms like modern, enlightened, woke, seeker-sensitive, seeker-friendly, or emergent. The whole key is that we can ignore whatever God has said before in favor whatever we choose because for one reason or another, we’re special (Edmund Pevensie comes to mind) or better than those stupid folks who came before.

The problem is that tripping breakers doesn’t just mean that the lights go out. The disconnection speeds the spoilage of frozen and refrigerated foods and probably destroys your connection to WiFi. After a day or two, you may be without a phone. There’s no dishwasher, no TV, no radio (for long), no e-reader, no lights, no air-conditioning, fans, or heat, and possibly no stove.  And, if you happen to have electrically powered/charged cars or bikes, you’ll lose them, too. All this is a consequence of your having done something you think is trivial.

Sin condemns a people because that’s what sin does, not because God gets ticked off. Condemnation is a natural consequence, like tripping the breaker means no electricity. There’s really only one solution, and our not approving of  it does  not change that. If you set yourself up to fail,  you should not be surprised  when you accomplish that failure.