eating from the wrong tree (11-17-06)

Though many Christians would like to try - and sometimes do try, I don't think we will ever be able to solve all the world's morality problems. I'm thinking we might as well get used to it.

But in spite of this, we just love to try and 'battle' against the world's morality. Now, I'm not advocating moral relativism - where right and wrong are determined by what you had for breakfast. I most certainly believe in true good and true evil. What I am suggesting, however, is that rather than it being our job to sort this out, we are to trust God to do so. When we try to sort out the good/evil thing, we are trying to so something that only God can do.

This mistake is actually at the heart of the Garden of Eden story. Adam and Eve were given absolute freedom in the garden to eat from any tree they liked, and were forbidden to eat from just one tree. Genesis 2:16-17, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Good and evil were held secure by God - no assistance or meddling needed.

Well, tending the garden and eating from any of the other trees just wasn't enough. They apparently wanted to help God with good and evil as well. The key verse is Genesis 3:6, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and was a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of it's fruit and ate." The results of this are in Gen. 3:22, "...the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil...' "

All talk of apples and snakes aside, let's see what the story is getting at - she ate from the tree that she thought would make her wise! All of the other trees in the garden were 'good for food' and 'pleasing to the eye' (Gen. 2:9), but this tree had more. This isn't simply about eating an apple when you were meant to stick to oranges and figs! Neither is it talking about Eve simply wanting more wisdom to make better life choices. This is much more serious. This is the inversion of the creator/creation relationship! This is about Adam and Eve trying to take God's place!

I wonder if we eat from the same 'tree' today. Do we try to tackle morality (good/evil) in our own hands? Who are we to do that!? Please don't hear me saying that morality doesn't matter. It matters so much that it takes God to sort it out! Yes, the 'garden' needs tending (Gen. 2:15), but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that God needs our help sorting out good/evil. The more we focus on sorting out the world's morality problems, the more we show we don't trust God to do it.

May we eat freely from all of the life God has given us.