Missing the Mark

In the New Testament the Greek word usually translated as "sin" means, basically, "missing the mark." You can see the idea, right? God says, "Here is the way; walk ye in it," and we ... miss that mark. Sin. Easy enough to understand.

It is not possible as Christians in our world to avoid being misunderstood. (I know, it sounds like I'm changing topics. Bear with me.) Scripture describes those in the world as blind (2 Cor 4:4) and hostile (Rom 8:7), unable to comprehend (1 Cor 2:14), and offended by Christ (1 Cor 1:18). I get it. It takes a new birth to grasp it. I understand. As long as there are unbelievers, believers will be misunderstood. I know. But part of the problem in perception is us. We have missed the mark.

Ask just about anyone at all and you'll discover that the perception of Christians is that we want the world to be moral. Christianity, like every other religion on the planet, is about morality. Exactly what is moral may vary, but all religious busy themselves with making bad people good. That's the singularly most common perception. The only problem is that it's the wrong perception of Christianity. While proponents and opponents of Christianity alike think that we're about being good, Scripture indicates that we're about being new. While the majority both in and out of the faith seem to think that it's about following rules, our Bible says it's about a relationship with Christ. And, unlike every other religion, Scripture specifies that the relationship we need with Christ is not premised on being "good" or, at least, "good enough." Indeed, the claim of God's Word is that we can't be good enough (Rom 3:23; Eccl 7:20; Psa 14:3; Gal 3:22; etc.). The problem of evil is a heart problem (Matt 15:18-19) and the solution is not "be good."

As I said, it is not possible to avoid being misunderstood in this world. What I'm hoping for is that I can point out to some the simple fact that "be good" is not the aim of being a Christian, let alone "make everyone else good." I am hoping that I can help ease the problem of being misunderstood in this area by helping believers see that they might be mistaken in this area. We're not about "be good" -- we're about "know Christ." I hope to point out that the image we've perpetuated of the old church woman who is hammering on the heathens about their evil ways is wrong. It's not what we're about.

You see, if we think that we are about being good rather than seeing "being good" as a product of knowing Christ rather than a cause, we are missing the mark. Oh, and I pointed out at the beginning that "missing the mark" was the Greek concept for "sin." And we believers want to avoid that, right? (See? I brought it back around.)