An Email on Sin

Last week, a fellow Brother in Christ wrote me an email with subject: "sin."

Hey bro, had this thought this week, thought I would share it with you. I am not so sure that our sin separates us from God as believers, Romans 8:38-39. The disconnect that we feel could be caused by the collateral damage caused by the enemy as our sin leaves an inroad of influence into our lives.  

Think about a pro football running back.He is in the middle of a game and when he sins he is actually removing his pads, the armor of God. The team then calls a running play up the middle and when he gets the ball and goes up the middle he gets slammed. His helmet, breast plate, belt, cleats, shield, and sword he has left on the ground in the backfield.  

When we choose to sin we are taking off the armor, God does not remove it from us, we choose to remove it and we are now vulnerable to the enemy. When he hits us, we are damaged, injured, hurt, in pain and feeling alone. We think if God was with us we would not be hit like this so He must not be here with me. 

The armor is to protect me, He gave it to me, I am going to get hit, I am in a football game, If I take it off then I am going to get hurt. Let's choose to put on the armor today. 

I am blessed to have friends who think outside the box.  I have several beliefs (i.e. that my sin separates me from God), then someone graciously comes alongside me and offers a "new" perspective, which is not new at all.  Then I am faced with a dilemma: be teachable or defend my "position."

I get so comfortable painting a picture of God through a "doctrine" and then almost never revisit it.  It's a very liberating thing when God finally busts out of the box you were trying to keep him in.  Humbling to say the least.  7 years after Seminary and God finally broke out of my box.  I think this would have happened much sooner had I not majored in Systematic Theology :)

What do you think?