Sunday I mentioned in my message a metric of 4 layers of sin that early church fathers used to help guide our growth in sanctification. Many asked me for more details and how to deal with these sin structures in ourselves. I'm attaching a graphic I found helpful put together by a church on the west coast. The graphic relays which sins we often deal with at different stages of spiritual maturity. I borrowed this graphic from Practicing the Way, a ministry of Pastor John Mark Comer (who was the first preacher I heard mention the 4 layers of sin).
Reminder, in general…
Gross sin (as defined by the early church fathers) include the sins God's Word and culture universally condemn (think murder, theft, rape, abuse).
Conscious sin is sin defined by the Bible, but maybe culture applauds (think greed, porn, sexual deviance). These are behaviors we embrace, knowingly.
Unconscious sins are inward sins (think hate, jealousy, greed, os sins of wrong motivation). You no longer acts out on them, but they’re there. They may even motivate your behavior.
Trust Structures are things that displace God as our ultimate hope (money, self-reliance to the point of self-worship, misplaced identity). M. Robert Mulholland Jr. calls them: “Deep seated attitudes and inner orientations of our being out of which our behavior patterns flow… those deep inner postures of our being that do not rely on God but on self for our well-being.” Dealing with trust structures requires deep inner work of the Holy Spirit. Many of us carry unknown wounds and trauma that inform our thinking. God longs to free us even from these unhealthy trust structures.
The graphic also outlines typical prayer lives for someone at each stage. The point of a tool like this isn’t to discourage or speed up sanctification. It simply allows us to gauge or growth as believers. Ideally you see yourself growing through the years in relationship with God to the point you see these as milestones you’ve passed as the Holy Spirit guides you through life change.
Dealing with each of these requires the self awareness to see where you are. Honestly assessing our immaturity and acknowledging our involvement in gross sin (Paul’s lists and culture overlap here). We need to own it and make strides to grow around mature believers. Allow accountability and confession to be regular parts of our life. If conscious sin is a struggle, it may take more time allowing God’s Word to be the truth for your life instead of your feelings or culture’s indifference. A relationship and submission to God’s Word is the best pathway to tread. If unconscious sin is where we find ourselves it relays an understanding of what to avoid (we’ve made sure not to act out too much), but could also signify hypocrisy. Jesus was indignant toward the Pharisees precisely because they knew how to act outwardly, but inwardly they were ravening wolves. Moving beyond unconscious or inward sin requires deep work that isn’t easy. It may takes years of humble prayer and willing submission to God’s thoughts and will. Of course the final level is trust structures and may take our entire lives for Jesus to unravel in our hearts. Often we don’t even see their grip on our hearts until we are mid-life. An abiding faith in the face of crisis, suffering and pain will lead us to deal with these inner trust issues we may have inherited, built or unwittingly created in our hearts. The good news is Jesus beckons us follow on as He transforms us all the way to our inner most self. The bad news is our corrupt hearts tend to encourage us to stop where we are on the journey. Press on.
Tools like this aren't universal or even biblical. They're simply helpful. They can show us maybe where we need to allow God to change us. God is always at work and often it takes a lifetime to allow Him to do the inner work we resist in our lives. If you enjoy navigating these types of stage/step patterns, I found another resource here from a church in New York. It mentions a wall that many believers face. This is typically where deconstruction or all out abandoning of faith begins. Again these are tools and resources, these don't always apply across the board. I hope tools like this help us deal with our tendency to resist God's call for inner change to our lives.
Blessings
Pastor Marc