Makin’, Breakin’, and Achin’

This week I heard a news report on the radio about a new bill just passed by our state legislature and signed by the governor into law. To be honest, I often cringe when I hear about new legislation, wondering what negative impact the new law will have on us and our society. But this time, I agreed that the new bill was probably necessary, and recognized that it helped confirm something I have sadly noted about life in this world.

What is the new law? It forbids and criminalizes the flying of drones over prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities. Why? Because people have been using drones to carry drugs, mobile phones, weapons and other contraband into California’s prisons. This new law outlaws such flights, which certainly makes sense. . . after all, only Amazon should be allowed to make such deliveries!

So what does this new law confirm about the world around us? What truth does it illustrate? Simply this: There is no good thing devised by man that cannot be corrupted by sin. And the corollary is: There is no good thing devised by man that has not been corrupted by sin.

There is no good thing devised by man that cannot be corrupted by sin.

We could call this the makin’, breakin, and achin’ cycle: in other words, people create wonderful things, which are corrupted to sinful uses, which in turn cause misery and loss in the world. Let’s consider each of these briefly.

Makin’: Mankind has devised, invented, and made so many amazing things I hardly know where to begin describing them. Just think of all the tools and technology we have created over the ages: agriculture, hybridization of animals and crops, plows, tractors, combines, crop dusters (and the stuff to be dusted on our fields); wagons, cars, trucks, trains, boats, airplanes, and spacecraft; knives, hatchets, axes, hammers, screws and screw drivers, wrenches, nuts and bolts, lawn mowers, edgers, vacuum cleaners; oil lamps, flashlights, bulbs, LED lights, fluorescent tubes; furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, solar panels; computers, lasers, printers, 3-D printers, cell phones and tablets; and medical tools and techniques from medicines, x-ray machines and ct scanners to robotic surgeries and heart transplants. The ability to imagine, design, invent, manufacture, and use so many technologies is proof of mankind’s intelligence and of the fact that we were made in the image of God – the original Creator. We have invented so many good things that have healed, fed, protected, and brought comfort to the whole world, that life should be wonderful for everyone. And today we stand on the threshold of unbelievable advances in genetics and physics that promise cures to cancer and other deadly diseases. For example, did you know that researchers have printed functional rat kidneys on a 3-D printer, and reawakened dying organs by injecting a person’s own mitochondria into the organs? Who knows what advances lie just over the horizon? We are indeed very good at makin’ wonderful things!

Breakin’: And yet, no sooner do we invent or produce anything, than it gets twisted and used for sinful purposes to harm others. Atomic energy is used to produce energy, fight tumors, and power ships, but is also packed on top of thousands of missiles aimed at population centers around the world. The internet provides instant communication, access to practically all the world’s knowledge immediately and cheaply, entertainment, and the ability to find and purchase goods and services that help us; but this great tool has been corrupted with computer viruses, ransomware, phishing scams and verbal abuse – not to mention pornography and illegal drug sales. Boats have provided mankind with the ability to travel the world and ship vast quantities of trade goods – or to invade, smuggle, poach endangered animals, and commit acts of piracy. In the example I mentioned at the start of this blog, drones can provide visual recon of archaeological sites, farm fields, and cattle herds spread over vast pasture lands, and they can deliver packages to remote locations cheaply and safely – or, they can be used by peeping-toms to spy on neighbors, or to deliver contraband to prisons. And how many things have been invented but not made available to help people due to suppression by greed or political expediency? It seems that once a new thing becomes available, someone is thinking about how that thing can be used for some evil purpose. We’re as good at breakin’ things as we are to makin’ them.

Unfortunately, this corruption extends to things mankind did not invent or devise: the natural world. This corruption extends first of all in a general way to all creation because of the curse which our sin caused. On the day our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, God pronounced his curse upon us and all creation (Genesis 3). Therefore, all creation was subjected to death (Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”) and futility (Romans 8:20). All creation groans under the pain of sin and death (Romans 8:21-22) – all caused by our rebellion against God and fall into sin.

Besides the general condition which our sins have brought upon the world, there are also the specific acts by which we misuse, waste, or destroy the natural blessings which God has placed around us. Examples include the polluting of our air, water, and soil; the training of animals to attack each other for sport, or to attack people to cause harm; and the long-term destruction of plant and animal life for short-term, temporary gain. Chief in this misuse of God’s creation is the abuse of other people, for we, too, are God’s precious creatures. And because God made us in his image, whenever we strike against another human being, we are striking against God himself (Genesis 9:5-6).

Because we ourselves are corrupted by sin, everything we touch is affected by it, too.

Because we ourselves are corrupted by sin, everything we touch is affected by it, too; even our best efforts to treat the world rightly often have unintended, negative consequences. We have imported plants and animals to regions to help combat some problem, only to have the imported species become a far greater pest than it supplanted. The American South is covered by an invasive vine known as kudzu, first planted as a forage crop; and cane toads (Rhinella marina) have overrun Australia, replacing and eating all kinds of native species (including birds) and not just the beetles they were introduced to control.  Check out one of these monsters:

Achin’:  The result of all this breakin’ is pain and suffering – the achin’ which we feel from the broken promises which our inventions first gave us. We hurt each other, emotionally, physically, financially, and mentally. We oppress, abuse, and steal – breaking all the commandments which God gave us to help us love him and each other – and the result is tragic. We even use things which can be beneficial, to kill each other. So much good could have been done – yet what was meant for good is turned to produce evil. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” and Romans 3:10 warns us that “None is righteous, no not one” so we shouldn’t be surprised when people use good things for evil purposes – though we often are, and are hurt when it happens.

we shouldn’t be surprised when people use good things for evil purposes

So, what do we do? Is all lost? Is there no hope at all? Are we doomed to be eaten by giant toads? Are we doomed to the unending cycle of makin’, breakin’, and achin’ from the consequences of our sins? Fortunately, the story doesn’t end here; there is hope. There is a solution, because though we’re achin’ from the breakin’ of all we’re makin’, the One who made us is not forsakin’ us. We’ll look at that some more next time . . . See you then!

Fortunately, the story doesn’t end here; there is hope.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Romans 5 and 8