I've sat back, listened, and wondered - What exactly is "normal"? And what, as Christians, are we supposed to consider "normal"? Is submission and adherence to traditional Judeo-Christian values really what is "normal"?
None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 ESV)
Over and over again in scripture, we are told all of Creation groans under the oppressive weight of sin. All of mankind is "dead in the trespasses and sin....we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." (Eph 2: 1, 3) The more I read scripture, the more I realize, it is sin that is normal.
We don't like that. We don't like that our normal state is one of sin - drunkenness, lying, cheating, murder, selfishness, extra-marital sex, homosexuality, transgender, lazy, idolatrous, blasphemous, lawlessness. That is the "normal" human condition. That is not the way mankind was created, but because of Sin, it is what is normal. In our completely natural, God-free state, that is who we are. In our normal condition, we reject everything God created us to be, and live in the passions of our flesh. We were born searching for happiness and purpose, driven by our passions and feelings to find it where ever and how ever we can.
Yet the natural human state leaves us feeling unfulfilled. Those passions of flesh feel good for a time, but leave us wanting more, or different. As Christians, we know that fullness of life only comes from God, so we have "normalized" Christian values. We have spent decades preaching if you go to church, follow the 10 Commandments, sing "Just As I Am", deny the passions within you, and "turn to Jesus", God will find you and save you. If you run from sin, God will save you.
The most devastating part of this, is it is a lie. We can live "good" lives. We can avoid much of the heartache and devastation sin brings. We can feel happy, and content, and prosperous. We feel good about helping the poor, keeping the 10 Commandments, and practicing the Sermon on the Mount. We can avoid all the "big", obvious sins. The lie is easy to live with. It creates a nice, yet dangerous, front that allows us to ignore the truth. In working to avoid our normal human condition, we reject the Gospel.
The Gospel is not easy. The Gospel begins with one basic premise - We are all trapped in sin that feels good and appeals to our natural nature. The entire Old Testament law proves we are incapable of escaping sin. The law was given to teach us what sin is (Romans 3:20) - not to teach us how to avoid it. We have no problem sinning. We have no means, on our own, of stopping. (Though we certainly do a great job of thinking we can!) The first thing the Gospel demands, is the painful recognition that we are all dirty, hopeless, destitute, and dead in sin. The first step of Gospel living, is recognizing I am no different than the worse of all sinners. It is realizing dealing with the "exclusively gay moment" in Beauty in the Beast may be uncomfortable not because it is normalizing sin in my mind, but because it taps into a "normal" part of me that I don't want to look at. It is reading history, and recognizing that except by the grace of God, I am the slave owner. It is watching a passionate movie scene, and acknowledging part of me wants that. The Law shows us that what is normal and desirable, is not acceptable in the eyes of God.
That is where the hope of the Gospel jumps in. Sin has been conquered, and we no longer have to be slaves to our normal nature. WE become abnormal. It is not the non-believers who are different from us. WE are different from them. We are the abnormal.
So where does that leave us when navigating through a world that is increasingly accepting of its natural condition?
First, we need to recognize that generations of "normalizing" Judeo-Christian values within the culture has led us to this place. What we are seeing, is the world standing up and saying "This is who we are!" After generations of enslavement to laws and traditions, the world is simply being what it naturally is. It is throwing off the chains of religion. We have been born this way, and it isn't a choice. When we understand the depths of the power of sin, we should not be surprised when it rises up. We should not be shocked by sin. If we are shocked by it, it is because we do not comprehend its power.
Second, We need to remember - We are the abnormal. Through Christ we are "new creations". The Holy Spirit is "normalizing" in us what is not natural. It means the world should be shocked by us. It should be shocked by the love, grace, compassion, humility, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, and self-sacrifice of the Holy Spirit working through us. We should be shocking. We should stand out. We should be counter-culture. Our lives should be so controlled by Christ, His death, and His resurrection, that the rest of the world takes notice - not because of the laws we demand it lives by, but because of the freedom we have to be everything it can't. The world should be shocked by the power of God within us. The world should take notice not because I demand movies, books, television, and laws conform to a God it doesn't acknowledge, but because I am free to say, "Yes. I want to do that too, but I have something that is bigger, better, and more satisfying. I do not need to act naturally to have real joy, peace, and purpose."
Third - We need to take a very hard look at what we mean as individuals and parents by "normalizing sin". As Christian parents, our deepest desire for our children is Christ. We want them to so desire and long for Him, that their hearts will never be satisfied until they are sitting in His presence. It takes much wisdom and discernment, and knowing each individual child, to know when we are teaching and training in righteousness, and when are we over-protecting them from the truth of the sin-filled world they live in. Are we protecting immature hearts and minds, or denying who we are outside of Christ? Are we trying to demonstrate a more glorious way, or are we hiding from the harsh reality of a fallen world? It is hard, it is devastating, it is ugly, and it is violent, to show our children who they naturally are, who we naturally are, and what the world around them naturally is. Are we standing in the way of them experiencing their need for Christ? Do our believing children know that the only difference between them and the "sinner" is Christ? Are they so shocked by sin, that they fail to see the tragedy of a life without God? Are we protecting our unbelieving children from their own nature to the point they are not being driven to the cross? Do they need to see and experience normal to realize they were created for so much more than this? Is it when we step out of the way, that they will find themselves at the foot of the cross?
Could it be, that in "normalizing sin", we can better demonstrate Christ to the world, our children, and ourselves?
