Addressing The Fullness of Sin
The concept of deeds and consequences has been a powerful
premise in cultures and societies across the centuries. In the Old Testament (OT), this concept was
communicated as eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, which not only acted as a
deterrent, but also as a means of justice in the life of those societies. In the modern church we view deeds and
consequences in terms of sin and punishment. Sunday sermons often focus on helping
people recognize their sin and repent to avoid the punishment of that sin. The emphasis on the sinner alone, however,
does not completely deal with the issues of sin in our world. It is not enough to simply help the sinner
find repentance and restoration, but an effort to help the sinned against find
forgiveness and restoration is just as important. Ministering to the sinned against requires
the church to reevaluate how it approaches those who have been sinned
against. The following will hopefully
begin a conversation about ministering to the sinned against by examining a
proper context for sin, understanding the pain of “han,” exploring a healthy
moral framework, and the impact on pastoral ministry today.
Proper Context
In the OT scriptures, a picture of community is established
that was structured around a strong moral code.
This code was considered to be “God-authorized” and can be see in the
commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
According to Walter Brueggemann (WB), the structure of these commands
and the belief they were “rooted and grounded in God’s own holiness” meant
“they were absolute and disobedience is not even entertained as thinkable or
possible” (p. 26). As the first five
books of the OT are studied, it is evident humanity was expected to be obedient
to the moral structure of God’s will and purpose. This concept of disobedience to God, or sin, continues
to be fleshed out through the wisdom writings, which strongly suggest the
individual who does not heed the collective nature of wisdom is foolish and
will essentially experience the same consequence as the sinner – death.
In the modern church we tend to view disobedience of God as
an individual issue. When the individual
sins, they are the only one who experiences the consequence. This understanding, however, is not
complete. The full impact of sin includes
not only the sinner, but the victim of sin, or sinned-against. This was
recognized in various ways by the peoples of the OT. WB suggests, “The Creator God has ordered the
world so that all of life is a series of interrelated components” (p. 27). As a result, sin is not simply an issue of
obedience or disobedience toward God,
but affects others whether closely or loosely tied to the particular sin
issue. An example of the affect of sin
on others, apart from the sinner, can be found in the story of David and
Bathsheba. David’s sin impacted not only
Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, but David’s children as well. The effects of sin
are broad and nondiscriminatory.
Understanding Han
Because sin affects more than just the sinner, it is
important for the Church to focus on caring for the “wounds” of those who have
been sinned-against. These wounds can be
described as “han,” which according
to Andrew Sung Park, “is the suffering of the innocent who are caught up in the
wicked situation of helplessness” (p.47).
Basically, han is the deep, often
tragic, pain experienced by those who have been hurt for reasons beyond their
control. Han might manifest itself internally and/or externally as the
individual deals with an array of strong emotion that include anger,
helplessness, or hopelessness. “Where sin is committed, han arises as its corollary. The victims of sin develop han, a deep agonizing pain” (p.
48).
The nature of han
that requires our attention is that while the sinner may be forgiven, han may continue to exist in the life of
the sinned-against. After Nathan confronted David he repented, but
han was already put in motion. David’s sin cost Uruah his life, which was
certainly not just. His first born child
with Bathsheba died at birth. Surely that child was innocent and did not
deserve the consequences of David’s sin.
In addition, David’s household experienced multiple tragedies from
incest, to murder, to rebellion.
Understanding han
helps us understand “Jesus’ teaching centered in comforting and healing the
wounded and sinned-against” (p. 54). In Mark
2:17, Jesus makes it clear he did not come for the righteous, but for the
sinners. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus
is found with the downtrodden, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick,
and those whom the society of his day considered to be sinners simply because they could not fulfill
the religious law. Jesus spent time with these people because they needed to be
released from their suffering. “For Jesus, releasing people from their han is more important than dealing with
their sin” (p.56).
Moral Framework
As han is
identified in the lives of people it must be addressed, but it must be
addressed within a proper moral framework. In the aftermath of sin, the
sinned-against often develop an unhealthy response to their han by developing attitudes of guilt
and/or self-blame. The idea that the
sinned-against did something to cause themselves to experience the consequences
of the individual’s sin can create a barrier to healing or releasing their han.
Unfortunately, in our modern world, time, effort, and resources are often
spent helping the sinner repent and the sinned against is left to seek the
source of their suffering on their own. A moral framework needs to be
established “that acknowledges the fact of victimization and the need for
accountability for those who cause harm to others” (p. 124).
In February 2011, Gary Ridgeway (aka the Green River Killer)
pled guilty to a 49
th murder. Part of his plea deal to avoid the
death penalty is to confess to all murders linked to him. On his 62
nd birthday, Ridgeway
admitted to killing, then 20 year-old, Rebecca Marrero in 1982. “The victim's
sister, Mary Marrero, told King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts that
her family has been devastated by the murder and wished that Ridgway faced the
death penalty” (
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/19/us-murder-serial-idUSTRE71I06X20110219,
last accessed October 29
th, 2011).
In this example, the sinned-against (Mary Morrero) continues
to live with her han, while the
sinner (Ridgeway) is not held fully accountable. Now, one could argue that Ridgeway is in
prison for life, but after confessing 70 murders to date, it does not seem as
if he is being held accountable to the fullest extent, especially when you
consider that he has a roof over his head, clothes on his back, and three meals
a day.
Impact on Pastoral
Ministry
The very fact that Mary Morrero’s desire is to see Ridgeway
die should prompt the Church to explore a moral framework that spends time,
effort, and resources on helping victims process through their han. Now, this is not to say that the
church should not be concerned about the sinner. After all, each of us is a sinner saved by
grace. The church, however, must broaden
its approach to sin if it is to be more effective in dealing with sin. This new approach must include “worship that
is hospitable to the whole of human reality and addresses the experiences of
violating and being violates without giving priority to the sinner-violator”
(p.167).
This will require congregations to be re-educated about the
true nature and context of sin being not just individualistic, but social and
communal. Congregations must be taught what it means to lament, and even more
importantly, that it is OK to lament.
Lamenting is important because it is one method in which the victim can
express their han. Prayers by the sinned-against, that lift the
sinner up to God, can help the sinned-against become more “empowered to relate
to the person more assertively and effectively” (p. 171). In addition,
verbalizing the sin to a trustworthy and caring person can also help the
sinned-against move towards removing han
from their life. Ultimately, the pastor may have to recognize their ability to
help either professionally or corporately as the Church may not be
possible. In those times, helping the
sinned-against to locate extended therapy options may be the best course of
action.
The Church has a unique opportunity to help not just the
sinner, but the sinned-against as well.
To do so it must cast aside traditional understandings of sin,
understand concepts involving han,
and establish a healthy moral framework.
When the Church moves in this direction, it can begin to address the
fullness of sin’s impact on our world.
In doing so, it becomes more effective for the cause of Christ resulting
in the expansion of God’s kingdom.
Until next time...
David
