Posted by Tamar on August 8, 2005, at 5:25:42
In reply to Sigh. I may have to look for a new church., posted by Dinah on August 7, 2005, at 18:35:30
Oh dear. I can see why you don’t want your son to grow up amid a preoccupation with sin. And I have to say, I believe strongly that intercession is a central part of prayer and I can’t understand why a pastor wouldn’t include intercessionary prayer. I think it’s appropriate to pray of forgiveness, but not exclusively! In my tradition, confessional prayers are particularly appropriate prior to communion, but intercessionary prayers are always appropriate.
I’ve always felt that sin is such a minor part of our relationship with God. To me, a focus on sin is like having a friendship where you spend all your time thinking about whether you’ve wronged the other person. Sure, people sometimes make mistakes, but true friends are usually forgiving without needing a big song and dance about it. My biggest problem with a focus on sin is that it’s so often (in my experience) about personal sins like pride or envy, and almost never about our collective responsibility for poverty or violence. But I could rant on about that forever…
Can you talk to your pastor about it?
poster:Tamar
thread:538828
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050510/msgs/539052.html