Original Sin Continued

Take a piece of paper and draw a vertical line down the middle. At the top of the line write "God," however and whatever you imagine God to be. At the bottom write the name of the worst, most evil person of whom you know in human history...Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Osama bin Laden...whoever would represent that to you. On that continuum, with God at the top of the line and human evil personified at the bottom, where would you put a serial killer or a child molester? Probably close to the bottom. Where would you put Tiger Woods? That depends on how you view the disclosure of Tiger's personal indiscretions. Probably not as low as the serial killer or child molester, but maybe not in the top half. Where would you put yourself? Many people would put themselves around halfway between or a little above. Where would you put someone of demonstrated Christian faith, like evangelist Billy Graham, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or Rick Warren who wrote The Purpose Driven Life? Many might put any of them closer to the top, though not at the top of the line. Those very Jesus-followers would say that there is a huge gap between them and where God is. So even the most faithful followers would say there is still a gap between where they are and where God is, on a continuum representing God at one end and evil at the other.

Original sin is a way of trying to describe that gap, and the realization that even the very best of us can't close that gap. Only the One at the top can do that. Followers of Jesus believe that's what Jesus did and does.

How does that strike you? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.