No search for John\u2019s original meaning can fully excavate such an abstraction as logos <\/em>becoming flesh. What we can do \u2014 what we are invited to do \u2014 is to be creative with John\u2019s gospel. Despite our saying that \u201cGod never changes,\u201d John indicates that changeability is part of God\u2019s nature especially as it relates to human need. If God has a history of changing, surely our definitions of sin and attitudes toward the church should be open to change, too.<\/p>\n 1. What is structural sin?<\/strong><\/p>\n We Christians long have interpreted sin as a personal break with God. Instead of focusing on personal transgressions, however, Christians need to talk about an idea well represented in the Bible \u2013 that sin is a structural break with God. The declarations of the Prophets<\/a>, the Exodus<\/a> and Resurrection events, Jesus\u2019s disruption in the Temple<\/a> all point to the idea that structures of sin make complete union with God difficult if not fundamentally impossible. There are at least five structural sins that Christians must address if we are to proclaim Good News in America. They are sins because they deal in death \u2013 spiritual, emotional, and bodily \u2013 and need to be reckoned as such.<\/p>\n By cisgendered, I mean people who conform to standard ideas of gender physiology and identity. These fears lead to bullying, isolating, Christian parents<\/a> condemning their own children, fringe Baptist pastors proclaiming God Hates Fags<\/a>, attempts to equate homosexuality with pedophilia<\/a>, suicide<\/a>, and murder<\/a>. Homophobia and its variations are sins.<\/p>\n Corporately produced chickens, lemons, tomatoes, and many other food items are products of cruelty and exploitation. A typical bowl of ostensibly nourishing homemade chicken soup is made from a chicken which was caged<\/a> its entire miserable life, processed by vulnerable undocumented workers in an appallingly dangerous industry<\/a>, and garnished with tomatoes picked by \u201cguest workers\u201d<\/a> toiling in conditions of servitude, sometimes so doused with pesticides that their babies<\/a> are born without limbs. Factory food is a sin.<\/p>\n FTAs, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement<\/a>, remove tariffs designed to protect small farmers and other small producers. They are designed to concentrate wealth<\/a> in the hands of a few corporate owners by forcing small producers into competition with them. Millions around the globe are suffering from an epidemic<\/a> of globalized worker exploitation associated with FTAs. Looking for decent work, many cross borders illegally and often are robbed<\/a> of their money, dignity<\/a>, and lives<\/a> while in transit. FTAs are sins.<\/p>\n The militarization of the US \/ Mexico border<\/a> began in conjunction with NAFTA. It has caused the deaths<\/a> of thousands of migrants. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744<\/a>, which passed in the US Senate in 2013, the so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, was to a significant extent a border militarization package. President Obama\u2019s 2014 Executive Actions on Immigration<\/a> were designed to \u201ccrack down on illegal immigration\u201d via further militarization. We glimpsed the militarization<\/a> of interior cities in the aftermath of the shooting death of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO. Militarization is a sin.<\/p>\n Six million people are under correctional supervision in America. The industry preys on poor people, especially poor black men<\/a> more than \u00bd of whom go to prison at some point in their lives. For-profit prisons<\/a>, which exist through contracts with governments, target illegal immigrants<\/a>. The largest American prison groups, the GEO Group, Inc.<\/a> and the Corrections Corporation of America<\/a>, have contracts with the Federal government to house 34,000 immigrant detainees a day. The prison industry is a sin.<\/p>\n 2. What is the purpose of the church amidst structural sin?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no point in having conversations about structural sin if we do not tell truth about it to our congregations, other faith leaders, community organizers, and politicians. They all wield power. Moreover, we need to tell truth to power in ways that will make systemic change inevitable.<\/p>\n Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected in his \u201cLetter From Birmingham Jail<\/a>\u201d that resistance to structural sin involves creating \u201ca situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.\u201d Jesus cleansed the Temple because it had become a \u201chideout for thieves\u201d \u2013 part of the Roman Empire\u2019s package of structural sin. Jesus created a situation so crisis packed, it led to his execution.<\/p>\n Not all crisis-packed situations lead to executions. The 1963 Children\u2019s Crusaders<\/a> in Birmingham, organized by Rev. James Bevel, were met with Sheriff Bull Connor\u2019s police dogs and fire hoses. The crisis-packed situation, broadcast on TV, resulted in the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act<\/a>. In 1968, Catholic priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan<\/a> broke into the offices of the Selective Service in Catonsville, MD and publicly burned draft board records. These and other crisis-packed situations eventually ended the war in Vietnam.<\/p>\n It has been a long time since church leaders created situations so crisis packed they led to ending structural sins. If the church is to proclaim Good News in America, it may be that the time for creating crisis-packed situations is upon us.<\/p>\n America is coming apart at the seams. Greed, corruption, fear, and violence are among our defining qualities. We Christians must confront the fact that we have done a poor job of proclaiming Good News in America. As such, there are two conversations we must have in 2015. This first is, \u201cwhat is sin?\u201d The second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1036],"tags":[1273,74,528,438,443],"class_list":["post-7479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-2","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-sin","tag-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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<\/a>The Rev. Ellin Jimmerson, Ph.D.,\u00a0is Minister to the Community at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church in Huntsville, AL and director of the award-winning documentary, \u201cThe Second Cooler\u201d, narrated by Martin Sheen. www.thesecondcooler.com<\/a> Follow Ellin Jimmerson on Twitter: @EllinJimmerson. Facebook: Ellin Jimmerson. Facebook: The Second Cooler Fan Page.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"