FORSAKEN AT 55 MILES PER HOUR (Jeff Turner)
Did Sin Separate Man From God?
“Man can certainly flee from God... but he cannot change into its opposite the eternal love of God which triumphs even in his hate.” -Karl Barth (1886-1968)
Steve and Pam were a happily married couple of more than ten years. After trying unsuccessfully to have children for the first few years of their marriage, their doctor confirmed their heart breaking suspicions that they were unable to do so. And so, after some time had passed, they began looking into the option of adopting. Several months of scouring through material, consulting with other adoptive parents, and talking amongst themselves passed, and they finally came to the conclusion that it was the right thing for them.
They’d decided that they would not adopt a baby, but an older child, out of foster care, and particularly, one who had been the victim of very rough circumstances. They finally decided upon a young man named Adam, who was ten years old, and had formerly lived with his now deceased, drug addicted mother. His father had never been a part of his life, and had left his mother sometime during her pregnancy. Adam grew up in an environment that was rife with instability, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. Young Adam had also suffered all sorts of abuse at the hands of his mother and her various “house guests”, and had more than a few scars scraped into his vulnerable, young psyche.
Knowing Adam’s history, Steve and Pam, prior to the adoption, acknowledged the fact that there might come a day when Adam exhibited some extreme and rebellious behavior. They went into the adoption knowing the severity of his former living situation, and preemptively discussed the problems and issues that might arise as a result. In fact, they went into it not thinking that he might go through a rebellious phase, but as if it were a given. However, they agreed to love him regardless, accept him as he was, and raise him as their own.
As anticipated, after having reached the hormonal age of thirteen, Adam began to rebel. He frequently indulged in many of the very behaviors that had ended his mother’s life, and could be found hanging out in environments much like the one from which he had been rescued. This is precisely what Steve and Pam had prepared themselves for, and they’d even preemptively planned on how they would bring loving discipline into young Adam’s life in these situations. The last thing that they had wanted to do was to further scar the boy by heaping guilt and shame upon him. However, when push came to shove, and Adam actually began to rebel and misbehave, it was as though the couple had forgotten all about their prior parenting plans.
Steve and Pam called a family meeting and sat Adam down to discuss the situation with him. The boy sat feeling ashamed and expecting the worst. After all, his past experiences of mental and physical abuse had trained him to expect the least and the worst from authority figures. However, such loving, understanding parents as Steve and Pam would certainly not treat him in the harsh and abusive ways with which he had grown accustomed, right? Steve looked down at an already distressed and disheartened Adam, and spoke to him sternly, “You have brought shame and disgrace upon this family and have dishonored my name. As a just and honorable man, I simply cannot continue calling you my son. As of this day, I am stripping my name from you, and am taking away your inheritance. Our family is no longer your family. You see, Adam, I am just too good of a man to be the father of a misbehaving miscreant such as yourself. Our natures are simply no longer compatible.”
“Not only am I stripping you of the privileges of sonship and our family’s name, I also forbid you from ever entering this home again. You are no longer welcome here. As an upright man, I simply cannot care or provide for such a wretch as you.”
Steve continued,
“In addition to this, I hereby strip you of the right to fellowship with either myself, or the woman that you once called mother. You are not our son, and you may not speak to us as though you are. You may refer to me as ‘sir’, and to my wife as ‘ma’am’. For not only has the nature of our relationship changed, the relationship itself will, from this moment forth, cease to be. But regardless of what you choose to call us in your depraved imagination, we’re not listening.”
“We have spoken to the courts, and have had a restraining order placed upon you. At the conclusion of this conversation, you are forbidden to be within one thousand miles of us. If you ever happen to find yourself within sight range of us, it will mean terrible things for you. Our relationship is severed, over, and done with! From this moment forth, we will speak to you no longer. Your days as an orphaned, unloved wretch begin now, as we hereby separate ourselves from you! Do you understand me, ‘orphan’?”
Could you imagine that broken, defeated young man, shuddering and weeping as he listened to all of this? Can you see the anguished and pained look spread across his face? How could this child ever possibly recover from such horrendous treatment by those whom he had once called father and mother? Truth be told, he probably never would. The memories of that moment would haunt his conscious and unconscious mind forever. He’d never feel complete, loved or secure again. Such an event would undoubtedly devastate him, possibly even irrevocably so.
What happened to good old, compassionate Steve and Pam? What happened to those adoptive parents who’d had foresight enough to prepare to deal lovingly with Adam’s rebellion, long before it ever occurred? What happened to their paternal and maternal instincts when faced with that which they had already foreseen? The cold, irrational and schizophrenic behavior which they displayed in that cruelest of moments is enough to sicken even the worst of parents.
Now, if the tale of Steve and Pam sounds slightly fantastical, and a bit too-bad-to be-true, it’s because it is. However, as ridiculous, cruel and irrational as Steve and Pam’s behavior was, many Christians would have us to believe that the eternal Godhead behaved in a very similar way in the wake of Adam’s fall.
There is a widespread, almost ubiquitous idea that has embedded itself into the very fabric of all things Evangelical, and it is the thought that sin brought separation between man and God. We have an image in our minds of God being flabbergasted, and offended beyond words by Adam and Eve’s actions. He had given them one simple prohibition, “don’t eat from that tree”, but for some reason, they couldn’t even obey that one simple command! As a result, God became enraged, and in His righteous fury, banished man from His presence. After all, God is holy, and now, because of his evil actions, man was not. God and man became like oil and water, and just wouldn’t mix.
Right..?
Did Sin Separate Man From God?
“Man can certainly flee from God... but he cannot change into its opposite the eternal love of God which triumphs even in his hate.” -Karl Barth (1886-1968)
Steve and Pam were a happily married couple of more than ten years. After trying unsuccessfully to have children for the first few years of their marriage, their doctor confirmed their heart breaking suspicions that they were unable to do so. And so, after some time had passed, they began looking into the option of adopting. Several months of scouring through material, consulting with other adoptive parents, and talking amongst themselves passed, and they finally came to the conclusion that it was the right thing for them.
They’d decided that they would not adopt a baby, but an older child, out of foster care, and particularly, one who had been the victim of very rough circumstances. They finally decided upon a young man named Adam, who was ten years old, and had formerly lived with his now deceased, drug addicted mother. His father had never been a part of his life, and had left his mother sometime during her pregnancy. Adam grew up in an environment that was rife with instability, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. Young Adam had also suffered all sorts of abuse at the hands of his mother and her various “house guests”, and had more than a few scars scraped into his vulnerable, young psyche.
Knowing Adam’s history, Steve and Pam, prior to the adoption, acknowledged the fact that there might come a day when Adam exhibited some extreme and rebellious behavior. They went into the adoption knowing the severity of his former living situation, and preemptively discussed the problems and issues that might arise as a result. In fact, they went into it not thinking that he might go through a rebellious phase, but as if it were a given. However, they agreed to love him regardless, accept him as he was, and raise him as their own.
As anticipated, after having reached the hormonal age of thirteen, Adam began to rebel. He frequently indulged in many of the very behaviors that had ended his mother’s life, and could be found hanging out in environments much like the one from which he had been rescued. This is precisely what Steve and Pam had prepared themselves for, and they’d even preemptively planned on how they would bring loving discipline into young Adam’s life in these situations. The last thing that they had wanted to do was to further scar the boy by heaping guilt and shame upon him. However, when push came to shove, and Adam actually began to rebel and misbehave, it was as though the couple had forgotten all about their prior parenting plans.
Steve and Pam called a family meeting and sat Adam down to discuss the situation with him. The boy sat feeling ashamed and expecting the worst. After all, his past experiences of mental and physical abuse had trained him to expect the least and the worst from authority figures. However, such loving, understanding parents as Steve and Pam would certainly not treat him in the harsh and abusive ways with which he had grown accustomed, right? Steve looked down at an already distressed and disheartened Adam, and spoke to him sternly, “You have brought shame and disgrace upon this family and have dishonored my name. As a just and honorable man, I simply cannot continue calling you my son. As of this day, I am stripping my name from you, and am taking away your inheritance. Our family is no longer your family. You see, Adam, I am just too good of a man to be the father of a misbehaving miscreant such as yourself. Our natures are simply no longer compatible.”
“Not only am I stripping you of the privileges of sonship and our family’s name, I also forbid you from ever entering this home again. You are no longer welcome here. As an upright man, I simply cannot care or provide for such a wretch as you.”
Steve continued,
“In addition to this, I hereby strip you of the right to fellowship with either myself, or the woman that you once called mother. You are not our son, and you may not speak to us as though you are. You may refer to me as ‘sir’, and to my wife as ‘ma’am’. For not only has the nature of our relationship changed, the relationship itself will, from this moment forth, cease to be. But regardless of what you choose to call us in your depraved imagination, we’re not listening.”
“We have spoken to the courts, and have had a restraining order placed upon you. At the conclusion of this conversation, you are forbidden to be within one thousand miles of us. If you ever happen to find yourself within sight range of us, it will mean terrible things for you. Our relationship is severed, over, and done with! From this moment forth, we will speak to you no longer. Your days as an orphaned, unloved wretch begin now, as we hereby separate ourselves from you! Do you understand me, ‘orphan’?”
Could you imagine that broken, defeated young man, shuddering and weeping as he listened to all of this? Can you see the anguished and pained look spread across his face? How could this child ever possibly recover from such horrendous treatment by those whom he had once called father and mother? Truth be told, he probably never would. The memories of that moment would haunt his conscious and unconscious mind forever. He’d never feel complete, loved or secure again. Such an event would undoubtedly devastate him, possibly even irrevocably so.
What happened to good old, compassionate Steve and Pam? What happened to those adoptive parents who’d had foresight enough to prepare to deal lovingly with Adam’s rebellion, long before it ever occurred? What happened to their paternal and maternal instincts when faced with that which they had already foreseen? The cold, irrational and schizophrenic behavior which they displayed in that cruelest of moments is enough to sicken even the worst of parents.
Now, if the tale of Steve and Pam sounds slightly fantastical, and a bit too-bad-to be-true, it’s because it is. However, as ridiculous, cruel and irrational as Steve and Pam’s behavior was, many Christians would have us to believe that the eternal Godhead behaved in a very similar way in the wake of Adam’s fall.
There is a widespread, almost ubiquitous idea that has embedded itself into the very fabric of all things Evangelical, and it is the thought that sin brought separation between man and God. We have an image in our minds of God being flabbergasted, and offended beyond words by Adam and Eve’s actions. He had given them one simple prohibition, “don’t eat from that tree”, but for some reason, they couldn’t even obey that one simple command! As a result, God became enraged, and in His righteous fury, banished man from His presence. After all, God is holy, and now, because of his evil actions, man was not. God and man became like oil and water, and just wouldn’t mix.
Right..?
