Dear Friends,
Our Adult Foundations class is in the midst of a study called The Seven Deadly Sins. Throughout much of the history of the Christian Church these seven sins have been viewed as the most serious of all sins, and many believe they are linked to all other sins. In case you’re wondering, the seven sins are: lust, laziness, gluttony, greed, wrath, envy and pride.
Dr. Arlo Reichter, Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin, recently wrote an article where he referenced Dr. Tony Pappas. The article was about the Seven Deadly Sins of the Church. The Church, (and our church,) is not immune from sin. After all, we are sinners, and we sin as individuals and as a church body. So Dr. Reicthter’s article via Dr. Pappas was enlightening. What might those seven deadly sins of the church be?
1. Willfulness. We detect this through conversations where a person would say, “What matters in this church is what I want.” But the issue is really what God wants. What is God’s will for our church?
2. Non-repentance. Too often we feel our lives are just fine as they are, never mind we are to be constantly growing in faith.
3. Callousness. This sin is indifference to the needs and concerns of others. We say: God takes care of those who help themselves, not remembering that mission starts at home!
4. Fixation. This is the sin of focusing too narrowly. It might be about the organ, the stained glass that needs to be repaired, but it might be how do we keep Mr. X or Ms. Y happy. When anyone or anything looms larger than Jesus we are in trouble.
5. Control. This sin comes from limited vision, limited understanding, limited smarts, limited goodness – it wants to run the show while God is not rusted to do right by us!
6. Rigidity. This is the sin of elevating tradition beyond its due. The past is significant, our heritage is meaningful. But when the dynamics become so strong that we can no longer shape future creatively, flexibly and faithfully, only diminution can follow.
7. Idolatry. This is the sin of substituting a lesser good for the ultimate Good. You name it, we bow down before it – the building, the endowment, the style of worship, the hour of worship, “my” pew, the organizational structure. These can all become objects of disproportionate allegiance while God’s will is shunted to the side.
Well, these are the 7 deadly sins of the church from Dr. Reichter, via Dr. Pappas. No doubt we could name other sins as well that are just as deadly to the Church as a whole and to our church in particular. We are called to be the Church, and this is not an easy task. Yet by prayer and listening to God through God’s Word, we can have a better understanding of the church God wants us to be – celebrating our work for the kingdom of God, and avoiding those sins that are deadly to us as a fellowship.
Let us be aware of that which potentially can bring us down so that we may rise up to be the church that God envisions for us.
Peace,
Pastor Jim
Our Adult Foundations class is in the midst of a study called The Seven Deadly Sins. Throughout much of the history of the Christian Church these seven sins have been viewed as the most serious of all sins, and many believe they are linked to all other sins. In case you’re wondering, the seven sins are: lust, laziness, gluttony, greed, wrath, envy and pride.
Dr. Arlo Reichter, Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin, recently wrote an article where he referenced Dr. Tony Pappas. The article was about the Seven Deadly Sins of the Church. The Church, (and our church,) is not immune from sin. After all, we are sinners, and we sin as individuals and as a church body. So Dr. Reicthter’s article via Dr. Pappas was enlightening. What might those seven deadly sins of the church be?
1. Willfulness. We detect this through conversations where a person would say, “What matters in this church is what I want.” But the issue is really what God wants. What is God’s will for our church?
2. Non-repentance. Too often we feel our lives are just fine as they are, never mind we are to be constantly growing in faith.
3. Callousness. This sin is indifference to the needs and concerns of others. We say: God takes care of those who help themselves, not remembering that mission starts at home!
4. Fixation. This is the sin of focusing too narrowly. It might be about the organ, the stained glass that needs to be repaired, but it might be how do we keep Mr. X or Ms. Y happy. When anyone or anything looms larger than Jesus we are in trouble.
5. Control. This sin comes from limited vision, limited understanding, limited smarts, limited goodness – it wants to run the show while God is not rusted to do right by us!
6. Rigidity. This is the sin of elevating tradition beyond its due. The past is significant, our heritage is meaningful. But when the dynamics become so strong that we can no longer shape future creatively, flexibly and faithfully, only diminution can follow.
7. Idolatry. This is the sin of substituting a lesser good for the ultimate Good. You name it, we bow down before it – the building, the endowment, the style of worship, the hour of worship, “my” pew, the organizational structure. These can all become objects of disproportionate allegiance while God’s will is shunted to the side.
Well, these are the 7 deadly sins of the church from Dr. Reichter, via Dr. Pappas. No doubt we could name other sins as well that are just as deadly to the Church as a whole and to our church in particular. We are called to be the Church, and this is not an easy task. Yet by prayer and listening to God through God’s Word, we can have a better understanding of the church God wants us to be – celebrating our work for the kingdom of God, and avoiding those sins that are deadly to us as a fellowship.
Let us be aware of that which potentially can bring us down so that we may rise up to be the church that God envisions for us.
Peace,
Pastor Jim
