I followed it for several hours before sleep overtook me. Yet while I was still conscious, I realized that the Democrats and Republicans gathered at the table were making the same basic point. Each side was claiming that the approach of the other side to the problem of health insurance was so deeply mistaken as to be catastrophic if implemented. The whole conversation seemed to turn on the question of which side was more prepared to crush the American economy beneath the weight of ideas that were nothing short of immoral. I do not remember what I dreamed that night, but I woke up the next morning thinking about Martin Luther and sin.

What had surfaced from my unconscious was a snippet from a famous letter written by Martin Luther during the time he was hiding out from any number of people who wanted to burn him to a crisp because his ideas represented a sinful threat to the authority of the day. Writing in 1521, Luther was responding to a follower named Melanchthon who was concerned about how Christians should conduct themselves during such turbulent times. What is a Christian to do if the only choices in the moment are immoral? What I remembered of Luther’s answer was the exhortation: “Sin bravely.”

I have checked on the relevant passage, which is translated by some as “sin boldly.” It is found near the end of the letter.

“If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Ordinarily I would try to determine the more reliable translation (“bravely” or “boldly”), but I really like them both. One version relates to courage, and the other translation seems to suggest ambition.

There are multiple interpretations of what Luther meant, and I will not quarrel with anyone who hews to a strictly religious interpretation. What strikes me is that he was speaking to our humanity, to the inevitability that we will make mistakes. We are flawed creatures; even our most well-intentioned actions will grow from the seeds of our flaws. But we must act, in the world. We must try to make the world better even if our efforts are flawed by the condition of our humanity.

If you are familiar with the passions and perspective from my writings here, then you know that democracy is my church. I exhort from faith in our capacity to inform ourselves about the problems we share, a faith in our capacity to hear each other, a faith in our capacity to better our world until the last breath is drawn. Even our mistakes can be addressed. Even in failure we can share more conversation, identify new problems, and try to overcome the flaws of the last decision.

I do not know what happens to us after we die. I don’t think about it very much. What I think about all the time is what we can do now, if we are brave enough, if we are bold enough.

Are we brave enough to get our information from books that don’t start with the premise that one side is represented by “traitors” and the other side is represented by “liars” and “big fat idiots?”

Are we courageous enough to refuse to forward an inflammatory email? Do we have enough guts to not even read it?

Are we strong enough to ignore media gasbags and politicians who don’t want to solve any problem that works better for them as a divisive issue?

Are we bold enough to reject the notion that one ideological stance has the answer to every single problem we face? Have you ever even met someone – even the person you most admire – who was right about everything?

Do we have the ambition to propose and fight for solutions that are actually bold enough to get somewhere near the scope of the problem?

Do we have the courage to make bold mistakes together, and then work together again to correct the mistakes? Is it even a mistake if we can agree to make it together and fix it together?

Or is that just democracy? Are we too scared and timid to run our own country?

We are not gods. We are human, and we will make mistakes.

We are citizens. We have problems, and we have resources. Our problems may be more entrenched and complex than ever, but our democratic culture and our political imagination are among the most vibrant that have ever bloomed on this planet.

Luther suggests that if you are a sinner, then sin is inevitable, so sin for the right reasons and in the fullness of your humanity.

We are citizens, and we cannot escape hard choices in the political arena. Conflict is inevitable. We cannot know where each choice will take us, whether or not we are making a mistake.

We are the stewards of this time and place, and we do not have choices right now that come without cost. We must not shrink from this moment. We must govern ourselves.

We are also human, and we will not make a perfect world. But we can make the world better than it is right now.

If there is a heaven, we will find out then what perfect righteousness looks like. For now, sin bravely. Sin boldly.