So Where Does the Desire to Sin Come From?

We asked this question last week and invited you to respond. There were several brave souls who pondered aloud, with not a few differences in opinions. See last week's post and see the comments (either on my "Notes" in Facebook or on http://colbykinser.blogspot.com).

Many noted that God created us with the freedom to choose. Certainly, without the freedom to choose, then our glorification of God is empty, the praise of mere automatons. But with the freedom to choose also comes the ability to sin - the ability to do something against God's will. Without freedom to choose, sin is impossible. True, but freedom to choose brings the ability to sin, not necessarily the desire to sin. Freedom does not explain the origin of the desire to sin.

Also, many noted that the desire to sin came from the desire to be independent from God or to be equal to God. These are, in fact, root issues with sin. Certainly, if we did not desire to be independent from God, a vast majority of sin would never occur (if not all of it - just playing it cautious, here). But this does not explain the origin of the desire to sin - it merely describes it in more detail. The desire to be independent from God is itself the desire to sin, so we can't explain the origin of something by describing it in better detail. Where did the original desire come from?

One mentioned a lust for power, which is similar to a desire to be independent from God. Likewise, it describes sin, but doesn't describe it's origin.

Another argued that man invented sin - that it does not exist as an objective reality, but is merely culturally defined. However, I have asked this particular contributor a number of times to answer the question, "It is always wrong to torture babies for fun?" To date, that contributor has not answered this question. I find it untenable to suggest that this particular example is only sinful if a particular society says so (as if any society ever agreed on right and wrong in the first place).

A few noted the very human habit of wanting something merely because it is forbidden. That is certainly the case with us today, in many cases. But I'm not sure that this is a universal attribute of humanity, and it's also not clear if that was a factor in Eden. Yes, Eve wanted the fruit, but it's not necessarily the case that she wanted it because it was forbidden. So, this remains a viable answer, but hard to establish definitively.

A tandem team offered the idea that the desire to sin comes from a longing for God. This is most intriguing - explaining sin by means of the goodness of creation. This would mean that man was created without sin and without a pure desire to sin. Rather, he was, as Scripture states, created pure and uniquely fashioned in the image of God. That imago Dei (image of God) makes us uniquely capable of a relationship with God and uniquely capable of worshiping Him (we are the only creatures to have theology and doxology, which I cannot fully attribute to mere higher brain function). We were created with a unique capacity and longing for God. We are also uniquely capable of sin. Is there a connection?

It has been argued, and I tend to agree, that all sin can be boiled down to fulfilling God-given desires with God-forbidden means. For example, the sin of acting on one's lust is a misguided effort to fulfill the God-given need for love and companionship. The sin of theft is a misguided attempt to fill the need for the security that is only really found in God. Is it possible, then, that the desire to sin originates from a godly desire, and more specifically, a desire for God?

Eve wanted good things: food, attractive things, and wisdom. That was her desire, and they were godly things to desire. However, she was deceived into pursuing them in ways God had forbidden. Her desire was not a desire to defy God or drive Him away. But she pursued her longing for God in a way that He had prescribed against.

And let's not let Adam off the hook - it's not all Eve's fault. Romans 5 gives the blame to Adam, not Eve, because of his failure in his duties as husband (which is an entirely different topic, discussed in earlier posts).

And it all went downhill from there. Once Man had fallen, his desires fell, too. Now, his desires were as vandalized as the imago Dei he bore. Now the desire to sin would be inherent - human desire was corrupt (except for the Sinless One, who bore human flesh but was without sin).

But, you might observe that Satan fell before Man. How do we explain his desire to sin? We do not have any real, detailed description of these events (despite our over-reliance on Dante for theology). So, we can't really know, but I would venture a guess that we would find a similar origin.

Now ... this is my opinion. Please don't take this as indisputable theology. Actually, once the question came up, I've been shocked by the fact that I've yet to find any scholarly work on this particular question. It may be out there, and I've not spent a lot of time hunting, but it's not readily available in the standard works I refer to. But short of saying that the desire to sin preceded the Fall, which would conflict with all kinds of orthodox doctrine, this is about the only way that I've seen that makes any sense.

Feel free to comment, disagree, propose alternate theories. It's an interesting question, in my opinion. (I would be particularly curious to hear what the tandem team has to say - does this summarize what you were thinking, or does your point go in a different direction?)

Where Did the Desire to Sin Come From?

One of our own was asked this question by a skeptic on an airplane recently, and the answer was not immediately obvious. It's actually a profound question.

We know that sin, as such, does not exist as its own substance. Sin is the absence of something, the vandalization of something, but not its own something. Sin is the absence of good, the act of taking something good and twisting it, profaning it, or otherwise rendering it imperfect. Satan was created completely good, but then twisted himself by trying to make himself equal with God. Adam and Eve were created good, bearing the image of God, but violated God's express will and damaged (but not destroyed) the image of God they bore. Everything that departs from God's perfection is sin.

But this doesn't address the question that was asked. Where did the desire to sin come from?

If Satan was good before sinning, then desiring to sin would be sinful, wouldn't it? If Adam and Eve were really created good, then why would they ever desire to depart from God's express will? Jesus was tempted in every way we are, and yet was without sin - but did He desire to sin?

They were all given the freedom to make choices, and sin was inevitable for mankind, but that doesn't explain where the desire to sin came from. The mere existence of choice does not create desire.

So what I'm going to do with this post is to throw it out there and see what you think. Please feel free to add your own comments as to where you think the desire to sin came from in beings that were sinless at one time.

(All I ask is that you show respect for everyone, that you not become argumentative, that you not criticize anyone else's idea, and that you post only one time. Consider this a survey, not a debate.)

If you'd rather not post your idea publicly, then send me an email.

I'll let this run a week or two, and then summarize my thoughts on the matter.

Why Did God Create Us?

The youth had a great question a couple of weeks ago for our Stump the Geezer Wednesday night Bible study: "Why did God create us?" Of all the questions that have been pondered over the millennia of human history, this is perhaps the most-discussed, most-contemplated question of all (or it's companion question, "Why are we here?"). Some of the greatest creeds of the Christian faith address this very question. It is perhaps the least-answerable question for atheists.

Rather than spoon-feed some ideas, we pondered several other questions first.

1. How did God make man different than the animals? The purpose of mankind should be discernible from the uniqueness of mankind, so if we can figure out how we're different than the animals, perhaps we can see how we're different.
   
   The first obvious answer is that we have souls. But animals are "soulish" animals - they have a non-physical aspect to their existence. The clearer idea would be to say that we have spirits, which is unique.
   
   But the statement of Scripture that makes man unique is that we are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26-28). That's what distinguishes us from the animals. We bear God's image - no animal does. This is more than having a mind, will, and emotions (because animals share those traits). The image of God means that bear a resemblance to Him in a way that allows us to relate to Him in a unique way. Animals cannot worship God, sing praises to God, seek after God, or enter into a relationship with God. We can - because of the image of God.
   
   Our purpose has something to do with bearing His image.
   
   
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose? Understanding this question could well clarify what our purpose is.
   
   When Adam and Eve sinned, they damaged the image of God that they bore. They didn't destroy it - it was still there. But it was badly vandalized, and it became much harder to recognize. That image is key to our relationship with God, and so damaging that image necessarily damages our relationship with Him. The less we bear His image, the less we can relate to Him.
   
   When God punished Adam and Eve for their sin, He banished them from the Garden of Eden, that space where they freely interacted with God. Their punishment was to have less access to God, less relationship with God.
   
   The way that God responded to sin gives us another clue as to what our purpose is.

Over the next few blog postings, we'll explore four more questions that relate to discovering our purpose.

An Insomniac's Theology

I know that many of our church family suffer from chronic insomnia in degrees worse than I've ever experienced. So I tell the following not because my sleeplessness is major or the worst case in the church. Nor do I air my troubles to gain any sympathy - I really don't want that. But I share it because of a lesson learned.

For most of my life, my encounters with insomnia have been sparse and almost always identifiable to particular stress or overconsumption of caffeine. But it was not nightly. Until this year. Slowly, over the course of this year, sleep was getting harder and harder to come by. I hate taking pills, but I resorted to OTC sleep aids, and then prescription. They helped me sleep more, but never generated the really restful kind of sleep.

What I didn't notice was that as the insomnia slowly grew worse, so did my attitude. My temper grew shorter, my countenance became more and more gray, my enthusiasm for many things waned. The change was slow enough that I wasn't fully aware of it. But Lynne, and likely others, were.

When I started getting more sleep from the sleep aids, even though my sleep wasn't great, it was good enough to where my attitude and enthusiasm began to recover in significant ways. I was amazed at how much better I was feeling (because I wasn't really aware of how nasty I was feeling throughout). But Lynne noticed a big change, and gently explained to me how sleeplessness had been affecting me.

The lesson from this for me is that "little sins" work the exact same way. Their effect on our lives is insidious and slow. We are often blind to the impact they have on us. It's not until something jars us, or until a trusted Christian brother or sister honestly tells us, that we realize the slow decline we have suffered.

First, do not be deceived. "Little sins" eat away at your soul, and because of their stealth capabilities, are perhaps more dangerous than "really big sins." Second, be that honest, trusted brother or sister for one another. Not a judge, not a harping nag, but a true friend who lovingly acts for the good. I wouldn't bother with explaining how the sin is sin (we usually already know that), but how you see sin affecting your friend, and how that sin affects you.

Scripture encourages us to be jealous for one another's righteousness. (Matt 18:15; Gal 6:1; 2 Thess 3:15; James 5:19). Realize that we are often blind to the insidious effects of our own sin, and we need someone to "wake us up." But above all, put on love (Col 3:14). Love must be first and last when we work together for holiness.

We are trying a few theories to restore natural sleep, and seeing some success. I imagine sweeping out the "little sins" of our lives requires the same kind of ongoing diligence and attention.