Need Buckets Pt. 3

You know the drill:  need buckets, it's sad, we meet them with coping strategies, Jesus wants to fill our need buckets if only we'll let Him.

So here's the definition of sin:  trying to meet our needs apart from God.

This is brilliant.  This the broader definition of sin that I've always looked for, because of course sin can't just be actions, and it's got to be relational at heart if a relationship is what cures it.  It also affirms the fact that we are intelligent image bearers of God.  People don't sin out of craziness (unless you're criminally insane, of course).  People sin because they think it's what they have to do.

Needs are screaming toddlers, basically.  If there is a massive hole in our soul, we will do just about anything to get it met, whether that is adultery or murder or lies.  We're desperate, hurting people.  We will go to church five times a week to earn God's approval or make people think we're holy.  Or maybe we go because we need the companionship, we need to look good and have people say, "Hey, you look good, and I'm so glad you're here!" and the thing is, sin is super subtle and we're none of us exempt.

I totally meet my needs in sinful ways--in sinful relationships, in sinful actions, in sinful addictions.  I've struggled with some sins for over a decade, which does a number on your faith when there are messages in the Church that say, "Occasional sins are alright, but habitual sins?  You're probably not a Christian."  And what the hell?  Here I thought I was a person who loved Jesus but found it impossible to stop doing this thing that I know is wrong but which makes me feel better.  But sin, when thought of as simply actions, as things that are the root of the issue rather than merely symptoms, well, then people can get legalistic on your ass and make you feel like crap.

But framed in terms of need buckets, it makes so much sense.  I can't kick my sins because my bucket is still empty.  And while my needs are unmet, I'm going to try to meet them in whatever way I can.  Even when I know something is a sin, I'm still going to do it, because that need drives me insane.  In eternity we're not going to sin, right?  Why?  Because our needs will be totally fulfilled.  That is crazy beautiful, I can't even actually imagine.

Seeing it this way allows me to see myself with so much grace.  I'm not openly rebelling, and I'm not hopelessly depraved.  I'm hurting.  Everyone who is sinning is hurting. 

And if I can learn to be gracious to myself, well then look at God.

I often wonder how God can be so patient.  How is He so good, so forgiving?  Well.  He's omniscient.  He knows us inside and out.  He knows all of our needs, and He knows which ones were met and which ones are still buckets waiting to be filled.  He knows all of our tricks, and He knows how unfulfilling they are.  It makes so much sense that God would be patient when He sees how deeply our brokenness runs.  He knows it's going to take far more than a few well-timed sermons, a few Bible verses, a few worship songs, a few strolls through nature.  He knows how empty we are, and He cares.  He empathizes with us, and I think that's why He is not nearly so hard on us as we are on ourselves.  I think that's why sanctification is a lifetime process, one that just can't be accomplished in this life where we will continue to have our needs go unmet.

God knows that the only way we'll stop sinning is for the coming of the new heaven and the new earth, when we will see God face to face, when we will know Him and truly understand for the first time that He meets our needs fully and completely, filling those buckets to overflowing.  And when our needs are met, we won't have to go looking for help anywhere else.

That's going to be a good day.