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| Although you can try to erase sin from a culture, you can’t erase guilt. Photo: Source |
And with the current attention given to the wrongs done to a multitude of victims in Western society the cultural impulse is to link the perpetrator to systemic policies and practices and not to freely willed actions or decisions.
Of course, free will has to be informed and developed according to the wisdom of the ages, not molded by what is temporarily the leading philosophy or even a metaphysical concept promoted by the elite in the media, education, the corporate world, and politics.
With the absence of an informed conscience a person is dehumanised in a striking way, namely by their inability to perceive themselves as a being with a spiritual dimension. The spiritual is essential to our identity as it endows us with specifically human capabilities. (See below a partial list of our human capabilities that go beyond the prominent ones such as free will, conscience, the cosmic knowledge of good and evil, a natural desire to experience perfect goodness, love, truth, and beauty, and our interior awareness of transcendent reality ‒ that there is something more than this world.)
On that point it is worth considering the crucially relevant observations offered by pastor Robb Brunansky of Arizona on the RealClearReligion site. It's from such an observer outside the mainstream players that we should expect clear insight into the state of our civilisation. He writes:
Sin is not a popular topic of discussion today. Our culture has virtually banished the word from its vocabulary. Sin has been re-defined, re-labeled, re-directed, and even revered.
But although you can erase sin from a culture, you can’t erase guilt. All humans have an innate sense that we are guilty of doing wrong. We are born into this world having been created in the image of God, and because we live in God’s world as creatures who bear His image, we can never escape the reality of our guilt because of our sin.
Attempts to deny the reality of sin seem only to increase the burden of guilt. Wokeness, social justice, anti-racism, virtue signaling, false religions, and vague forms of spirituality all attempt to erase the guilt we feel over our sins and make us feel like good, righteous people. But these attempts at self-justification are ultimately futile and useless.
Denying your sins will never erase your sins before a holy and just God. The real problem we have as sinful human beings isn’t that our existential happiness is hindered by sin; it’s that we are destined for an eternity under the wrath of God because of our sin. This is the tragedy of denying your sin. Simply wishing it away or pretending your sin is a virtue doesn’t deal with the problem of the wrath of God abiding on you.
It's in this setting of a world of sinners in need of real forgiveness from God that the Gospel writer Mark begins telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Mark tells his readers from the outset that he has good news to share with sinful people about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. He ensures we understand at the outset of his Gospel that Jesus has come into this world to defeat Satan by bringing forgiveness to sinners. The miracles, the healings, and the casting out of demons are external signs of spiritual truth, that Jesus has the authority to do the most important thing for us that we need: to forgive our sins. That’s the good news of the Gospel that Mark is writing about.
As this Gospel progresses, we learn in Mark 10:45 exactly how Jesus is going to provide forgiveness for our sins. He will do it in the most degrading manner possible, by giving His life for sinners on a cross. There’s one detail, though, that Jesus includes in Mark 10:34 that will vindicate His claim that His sacrifice was accepted by God and brought forgiveness to sinners: He would rise again three days later.
Here, we come face to face with the most crucial fact of all: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He is the Messiah, the Son of God who has the authority to forgive sins, then Jesus must not only die for sinners but rise from the grave. Mark ends his Gospel in a unique way from the other Gospel writers. He concludes having proven that Jesus rose from the dead because at that point his work is done. Mark has proven that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. He has proven that the Gospel is true, and that forgiveness is found, not by denying your sins, but through faith in this crucified and risen Savior.
As said above, informing our conscience about how to live in a truly human way, and being prepared to open ourselves to the internal promptings as to where right and wrong lie, but more importantly to what God's plan for each of us is, all give us knowledge of what is sinful in our lives, and how we should relate to society.
Therefore, we won't need to blindly follow the latest cultural norms and fashionable ideologies, but will have the courage of our convictions in accepting that we are governed by a personal entity of a higher order who guides us in such a way that we thrive, and who ensures we do not succumb to the agony of a one-dimensional existence.
Our Spiritual Capabilities
The human person's spiritual capabilities are extensive. They go beyond the cognitive and are centred on the deeply human quest of gaining meaning in and through life. “People have an inbuilt receptiveness to meaning (the ‘lustre’ of life): we discover and we ascribe meaning and we are also capable of recognising and acknowledging others as people in search of meaning, longing for meaning and absorbers of meaning.”
From the same source, see this list of elements of our spiritual dimension involving each of our head, heart and hands, because this dimension is part of our nature:
- Approach with Openness
- Being Present
- Connecting with the Heart
- Deep Listening
- Deep Questioning
- Discern Hope
- Discernment
- Embracing Silence
- Engage with Mystery
- Explore Layers of Meaning
- Re-Imagine
- Respond beyond Words
- Reverence
- Search
- Sitting with Ambiguity
- Stillness
- Symbolise
- Wonder and Awe
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