Sin in Leviticus and Christians Today

In this point I want to follow up a discussion we had in our group last night. We were talking about how Leviticus conceptualizes Sin as a corrosive power or agent (and not just a legal issue with God) and Lucy asked how that theology should influence how we live as followers of Jesus today. Since I believe that this issue is critical to both Leviticus and our calling as disciples I want to try and lay out why it matters with some more clarity (and brevity!).

What we learn from Leviticus 4-5 about sin and discipleship for today . . .

1. All our sin is deforming and corrosive to our being. Sin is like poison; any amount of it has serious consequences for our spiritual health. There are no "victimless" sins. Anytime we move away from God's will we are changed into a more toxic person, and this will affect every aspect of our lives and relationships (And if fact it will break our relationship with God). C.S Lewis sums this up well:

“[E]very time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself."

Therefore we can't wink at any of our sin; anything that is not aligned with God is a significant problem.

2. Sin is a community problem. We see in Leviticus that sin from the countryside winds up poisoning the Tabernacle. This means that sin affects all the area and relationships where it is active. This means that we cannot turn a blind eye to sin and presume we will not be touched by it. If our community is filled with neglected children, injustice, fraud, selfishness, adultery and all the rest we will all suffer for it. God is not just concerned for individuals, but for societies and creation as well. Sin is a threat to all of these and God is working to redeem all of these.

3. God has given His people a way to deal with the power of sin, be restored and make life holy again. In Leviticus this is the sacrificial system at the Tabernacle, and for us this is repentance and faith in Christ. God doesn't just want to pardon our sins (though He does do that!), but He wants to transform us and make us holy. Our calling as disciples is not simply to be on good legal terms with God but to live in a manner that is entirely aligned to His purposes. Discipleship then is about this process of being re-formed (God comes to us when we are deformed) into the people God intends us to be . . . people who look like Jesus!

4. Finally, this points us to our larger mission in the world: we (the church and individuals) are to be like the Tabernacle. We are sent into the world as a sign of God's intentions for the world. We are to be the place where people can get a glimpse of restored relationships with God and others, holiness and flourishing as God intended it. Furthermore, we are to use God's power to help others receive restoration as well. (This is where Leviticus is headed . . . more details when we get there!) 

There is more we could say here about repentance preceding restoration, about the need to make things right with others and not just God . . . but I think this is plenty for now!