Sin and redemption

When Evangelicals talk about Jesus, they don’t talk about the Christ who wandered the cities as a homeless street preacher, calling out the hypocrisy of the powerful and especially the hypocrisy of powerful religious conservatives. They don’t talk about the Christ who claimed that not just individuals, but also nations and their rulers, would be judged by how they treated the poor. They don’t talk about the Christ who proclaimed woe unto the rich, or whipped bankers, or told rich people they must give away all they owned in order to follow him. They don’t talk about the Christ who demanded that his followers should heal the sick and feed the hungry for free.

They only talk about the Christ crucified. They talk about a bloody, torturous death, which was necessary to pay for the infinite and horrifying sins that every one of us have committed. They talk about guilt and expiation, about sin and redemption, about death and resurrection.

They talk, in short, about a Jesus that makes them feel better about the bad things they’ve done, or the good things they’ve failed to do, or the fact that they will die someday.

As a friend of mine says: “If Jesus died for my sins, then the dude WAY overreacted”.

If your “sins” include having sexual thoughts about someone, but choosing not to act on those thoughts because it would harm or exploit or betray someone, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If your “sins” include having told a white lie to save someone’s feelings, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If your “sins” include having a drink occasionally, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If your “sins” include saying naughty words, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If your “sins” include having had sex with someone before you were married, with protection and with their full consent, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If your “sins” include being a bit more snappish in your tone than you should have and then apologizing, then you haven’t sinned. You’ve been human.

If you didn’t harm anyone or put them at risk of harm, then you haven’t sinned.

But: if your sins are indeed so horrifying that they could only be atoned for by bloodshed? If you’ve harmed a fellow being in such a way that you really do deserve an eternity of suffering for what you did? If you really did something so awful that only the death of a god could wipe the slate clean?

Then you DON’T get to just talk to your invisible friend, say you’re sorry and ask him to make things better.

You talk to the person you hurt, and ask them what YOU can do to make things as right as you can.

If you stole something, you return it, with interest.

If what you stole cannot BE returned – someone’s livelihood, someone’s innocence, someone’s control of their own body, someone’s life – then you do all that can be done to help heal the wounds you caused. You pay for their therapy, or if they aren’t okay with that then you give all the money you can to a foundation that helps people who have been hurt as they have. If you stole someone’s life, you pay whatever it takes to help the family to heal from what you did.

You do NOT ask for forgiveness or absolution. You don’t deserve them, and your victim doesn’t owe them to you.

You ask for penance. You ask what you can do, at whatever cost to yourself, to help the person heal.

You do NOT get to say that Jesus gave up his life to make things right. You give everything you have, even your OWN life, if necessary, to make things right.

And there are many ways of stealing from someone.

If your business model relies on paying your employees less than they need in order to have basic necessities, then you have stolen from them. Pay them back.

If your wealth is generated by a business that pollutes the air and water needed by your fellow beings, then you have stolen from them. Pay them back.

If you sell a product that you know harms your customers, then you have stolen from them. Pay them back.

If you sell a product that people need in order to survive but charge extortionate rates for it, then you have stolen from them. Pay them back.

If you use lawyers and loopholes to avoid paying your fair share of taxes, or if you support policies and politicians that allow you to avoid paying your fair share of taxes, then you have stolen from all of us. Pay us back.

You don’t stop BEING guilty just because your imaginary apology to your imaginary friend helps you stop FEELING guilty.

If you have truly sinned, then you, and you alone, must do the work to redeem yourself.