Original Sin

The story of the Fall communicates several truths. The Fall is, first of all, an illustration of the problem that dogs humanity. It communicates in mythic ways, the human drive to be God. Remember the serpent’s promise. Eating the forbidden fruit will make Adam and Eve like God. The difficulty is that the desire to be God only distances us from God.

We are creatures of God. When we seek to become God, we sacrifice the integrity of our relationship to God, because we are no longer seeking relationship with our creator. We are seeking to take the place of our creator.

Matters are made worse through our inability to manage the position of Supreme Being. We are incapable, as human beings, to act with the good of the whole in mind. We do prove capable of being, for limited moments, selfless. Human beings are capable of selfless acts, but those acts are few and fleeting. Selflessness is good; it just doesn’t last.

Our problem isn’t the inability to perform selfless acts anyway. Sin is pervasive and systemic. We live in a world that honors the capacity to consume above all else. No one is immune. This is the basis for the economic systems we hold dear, and all participate.

This morning, the news is telling the story of children’s toys manufactured in China containing lead. It would be easy to point a finger at China for sub par manufacturing components and techniques. That would be too simple and naïve. China is the location of factories because they produce goods cheaply. This increases the profits of the American companies. This makes stockholders in the American companies happy. The consumer is happy because more can be consumed. The cycle continues with the outcome being dangerous, poor quality toys. The whole thing designed to help us stuff our faces with produce.

The Fall is a macro-myth to communicate the way things are. It is about acting out of a desire to become gods, self-interest and consumption. The antithesis of this is Jesus. He claims his identity as the Son of God. Jesus lives and dies, not out of self-interest, but with His eye eternally on the good of the whole. Jesus points to the intrinsic value of the person that has nothing to do with consumption.

Jesus is the turning point. We need not succumb to living as those that are fallen and rudderless. Through the coming of Christ, we have been transformed. God will not impose transformation on us. The Good News is that transformation is available, possible and offered us.