Sin. It’s a term every church member – and most nonchurch members – know and uses. In most churches, it is a term that is used every Sunday. It is a normal part of and often the focus of most sermons.
Originally, before it became a religious term, the word sin was an archery term. It meant to miss the bull’s eye on the target. It carried the idea of falling short of the target.
This original meaning was an accurate way of describing our human condition. We all fall short, that is, there is always a gap between what we know to do and what we do. We fail to do what we know to do.
The apostle Paul expressed this common struggle in his letter to the Romans: “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do,” Romans 7:15, 18-19. We fail to do what we know to do.
As he reflected on this struggle, Paul concluded that “sin dwells within me,” Romans 7:17, 20. He saw himself as a “captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members,” Romans 7:23. He understood sin to be more than wrong behavior. Rather, it was an inescapable part of our human condition. He spoke of it as a law, that is, a principle of life, like the law of gravity. He described it as a power that controls us. Drawing on the imagery of Israel’s experience in Egypt, he spoke of being “sold into slavery under sin,” Romans 7:14.
Paul used the word “wretched” (Romans 7:24) to describe his condition. He was trapped, caught in a hopeless situation. He despised what he did and loathed who he was. Yet he was powerless to change his situation. He cried out “Who will rescue me?” Romans 7:24b.
Paul’s cry of despair reflects the question, “how do we deal with the issue of sin?”
The way we commonly deal with this falling-short-dimension of our humanness is by focusing on the target, i.e., what we “ought” to do. We create moral standards that describe the good we are to do and laws that describe what we are not to do. (Think the Ten Commandments.)
This approach to dealing with our sin problem focuses upon behavior – what to do, what not to do. It centers on guilt and shame. After all, as Paul said, we inevitably fail to do the good we know to do and do the evil we know not to do. This approach carries the threat of condemnation and judgment for any failure, using fear to motivate. It depends on self-effort – trying harder to do better.
This approach to dealing with the issue of sin is an expression of our ego-centric nature. It keeps the focus on ourselves. It leaves us in control. It allows us to feel a sense of pride when we measure up to the standards and a sense of being better than those who fail to measure up. It provides us an avenue by which to judge, condemn, and exclude others.
Paul said this way of dealing with the issue of sin does not work.
And yet, it seems to me, the church today is obsessed with what Richard Rohr calls “sin management.” We talk about sin. We condemn sin. We hold up “the good” we are supposed to do. We repeatedly are called to try harder to do better. (It seems to me this “try harder, do better” is the underlying theme of many/most sermons.) We live with the awareness that we fail to measure up, carrying a nebulous sense of fear and a not-so-nebulous sense of guilt and shame. In spite of our obsessive focus on sin, we remain essentially unchanged – superficially changed, at best. In fact, this obsession with sin management often leaves us in a worse condition. It produces spiritual arrogance in which we judge and condemn others for their failure to measure up along with spiritual blindness in which we cannot see the spirit and attitudes of our own hearts.
In other words, our obsession with sin has not stopped sin – just like Paul said.
Surely, there’s got to be a better way.
And there is! This better way of dealing with this dimension of our human condition is God’s way.
God’s way of dealing with
sin is with forgiveness. The psalms proclaimed,
(The LORD) does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear hm;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust, Psalm 103:10-14.
God relates to us out of who God is, not out of who we are or what we do. Like a loving parent, he responds to our failures with compassion. Knowing our nature, God is not surprised by or offended by our failures. He accepts our failure as normal. In other words, we expect more of ourselves than God does!
The way we commonly deal with the issue of sin reflects our merit-based way of thinking and living. God’s way of dealing with our sin reflects God’s ways of grace and forgiveness. Paul had God’s grace and forgiveness in mind when he wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1. God’s grace and forgiveness, expressed in Christ Jesus, set us free from condemnation, judgment, guilt, shame, and fear.
Unlike us, God does not focus on sin – on how we fail. God’s focus is on our growth spiritually. God’s desire and objective for us is Christ-like spiritual maturity – “conformed to the image of his Son,” Romans 8:29. God’s forgiveness does not indulge our sin. Rather, it allows us to learn from it. God’s forgiveness frees us from our obsession with our failure so we can see beyond it to see why we keep failing. God’s forgiveness frees us from guilt, shame, and fear so we can learn from our failure.
God’s way of dealing with our sin actually moves us beyond it. Paul wrote that “the just requirements of the law” are fulfilled in us who walk “according to the Spirit,” Romans 8:4. The Spirit empowers us to move beyond our sin and failures by helping us learn and grow spiritually. As we learn and grow, we learn to live in glad dependency upon the Spirit for the power to do what we cannot do in our own strength. As we grow up spiritually, we are set free from the power of sin.
God’s way of dealing with
sin actually works.
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