The Christian

The Christian who is only effective at church is, in my opinion, a complete failure.  This is the textbook definition of a "hypocrite", whose salvation is, at best, wasted on everyone except himself.

I believe that a good working definition for "sin" is as follows:  Sin is rebellion against the will of God, resulting in actions or activities that are contrary to His plan for His creation.  I understand that, theologically, "sin" is a much broader and deeper concept; however, my intent is to compare and contrast the rebellious activities of man with the intents of God for humanity.

God, in creating mankind and the universe around him, clearly had no intention of man living in a broken system, rife with waste, pain, hate, greed, uselessness, etc.  He communicated to man through a variety of means -- prophets, visions, dreams, miracles, the written word -- the thoughts and intents that He had for mankind.  But man, having a sinful nature (passed on from the garden of Eden), has a strong, often uncontrollable, and often unrecognized tendency to pursue his own self-interests.  The result of this tendency to pursue finitely-defined self-interest is, predictably, failure to fulfill God's design for His creation. 

Salvation from God is to be liberated from the penalty, power, and ultimately the presence of sin.  God's Son was sent to break the chains of sin.  Salvation is much bigger than simply a "free ticket" to heaven; it is an offering of freedom from a fruitless life.  Therefore, a true Christian whose salvation is genuine and effectual will consistently make distinctly different decisions than a person who is under the unbreakable hold of sin and self-interest.

The true Christian should be the best spouse, employee, co-worker, friend, neighbor, parent, or child around.  While sinless perfection is not going to happen on this earth, you would expect to see a high level of integrity, responsibility, respect, honesty, patience, modesty, and other Biblical virtues exemplified in their life.  They may not be the strongest, healthiest, most intelligent, or best-looking, but as they seek to please God by functioning as His creation was intended to function, their character will shine.  And, interestingly enough, they will -- however unwittingly -- avoid the pain and disfunctionality that prevails in the lives of those that live contrary to the Creator's original design. 

Of course, if man could percieve all of the pitfalls of going against the will of God from the outset, he would do God's will for his own good.  But even then, there would remain a fracture in the foundation, because the creation should seek to live for its Creator, not itself.