Sunshine Cathedral Blog

Question: What is your teaching on sin and salvation?

Answer: Sin is missing the mark. What is the mark? To do unto others as we would have others to unto us; to love our neighbors as ourselves. I honestly believe it’s as simple as that. When we are kind, generous, compassionate, justice-seeking, peace advocating, examples of God’s all-inclusive and unconditional love, we are hitting the mark (we’re right on target, or “righteous”). When we are selfish, greedy, mean-spirited, violent, or unconcerned with the needs of others, we have missed the mark.

Of course, we all find ourselves falling short of our highest ideals and forgetting that we are meant to be expressions of divine love… so, one could say we’ve all “sinned” and fallen “short of the glory of God.” But, atonement (at-one-ment) happens when we remember our truth (we are children of God, made in God’s image, part of the creation God calls very good) and live from that place of righteousness (right thinking and right action).

So, sin is the mistaken notion that we could ever be separated from God (and the unhealthy behaviors that result from that mistaken notion), and atonement is remembering our at-one-ment with the Source of all life, which is divine Love. When we remember who we really are, we live in love, because Love is what God is, and we are made in God’s image and likeness. We are “right” when we live in love. “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13.10).

A spirituality based in love (as demonstrated by the life and ministry of Jesus) will save us from despair, loneliness, and degradation and will help us live out the wholeness and liberation that is God’s will for us. But ultimately, we can’t be separated from divine Love… Love is what God is, and we are God’s beloved children in whom God is well pleased. We need not be saved from God’s wrath or from an afterlife experience of torment; we do need to embrace our wholeness and the joy it offers. That is salvation. That is the way (of love), the truth (of love), and the life (of love) demonstrated by Jesus, and it’s the way to experience wholeness and joy.