"slave type fear"

Today's church service was a friendly reminder of my concerns with why there is far too little transformation in the midst of so much information. This blog is not a new message from me but a response to my experience today since it illustrates the essence of my current mission. First some key quotes from the pastor,

"Even in the light of the cross, we often remain fearful that God will hold our sin against us."

"At any given moment our hearts can run to despair."

"Therefore since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near in full assurance of faith, hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience" (Hebrews 10)

the answer the pastor provides (and I am not being critical here of him)
"the deliverer is Jesus"   (the Romans 7 message)

This is what we hear often from the pulpits, books, videos, etc. in our Christian world, but rarely (and I am not sure ever for me) have we heard the explanatory mechanism of our bondage short of just reminding us of our condition, "we are sinful", "we live for ourselves."

We hear
"We forget what God has done for us."
"We lack faith."
"We need relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit in our hearts."

Of course all of this is true, but why isn't it transformational? Why do Christians continually hear this message but remain in "slave type fear"? Thus, not looking any different than unbelievers to the world, not exhibiting an appeal to the unbelieving world for the Christian life! Is there something wrong with our hearing?

What is it about our sin that works against us? What makes sin such that we can't realize our freedom from it? Why are we stuck in stinkin' thinkin'?

My conclusion is that for the "Good News" to be transformational, we must make proper sense of the "bad news". Our flesh (birth defect and source of our sin) demands that we meet any favor we receive with duty, obedience, and obligation. This is explained by sociologists and psychologists as Social Exchange and an obsession with justice.

Our sin is not only our bondage but also the force that constrains our sense making about it and how God really sees us. Our sin, in fact, perpetuates our bondage to our sin, constraining our joy, freedom, hope, and significance. This is the "BAD NEWS".

While it is true that Jesus delivers us from this bondage by the power of the Holy Spirit, but "being transformed by the renewing of our mind" involves making sense of sin in more productive ways. Who is helping us with that?