Whatever Happened to Sin?

Years ago I was talking to a guy who believed he had arrived at sinless perfection. "Really?" I asked. "Yes!" "You never sin?" "Never." What do you call it? "Well, sometimes I make mistakes ..." Ah, I see. Change the name and you've fixed the problem.

It doesn't seem like we Christians are as clever today as that fellow was. It looks a lot more like we don't even bother. I've run into Christian after Christian who openly admits to engaging in this sin or that sin -- you know, things that we're all clear are sins in the Bible -- without batting an eye. If I question them, they look at me like I'm daft. "What are you talking about?" they seem to say. "Of course it's not a sin." Like sexual immorality or adultery or divorcing a spouse because they think they can do better. Some of those I talk to aren't engaged in the sins themselves, but a loved one is, so now it's okay, right? I'm not talking about nominal Christians ... what we might call a CINO -- Christian in name only. These are people that give all the indications of loving Jesus ... except, of course, they're not actually obeying Him on this or that. You know, the kinds of things that Scripture says, "If they're doing these kinds of things, have nothing to do with them." As in "Don't even eat with such a one" (1 Cor 5:11).

The world has been telling us for a long time (forever?) not to judge. We've tried to hold our ground by ... you know ... following Scripture. But that's grown more and more difficult. Now we've moved from tossing out that silly stuff like "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man" (1 Tim 2:12) or "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord" (Eph 5:23) to throwing out "Flee from sexual immorality" (1 Cor 6:18). We've turned coveting from evil to normal, even recommended. We've exchanged "Scripture says that's a sin" for "Everybody's doing it so it must be okay." While the Bible exalts, "If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness" (Gal 6:1), today's Christians consider that a bit too invasive and judgy to be acceptable.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15). We seem to want to pat Him on the back and tell Him, "Don't worry; we've figured this out now. You don't have to be so uptight about all that 'commandments' stuff anymore." But if Jesus was right, it looks a lot like loving Jesus isn't as much of a priority to too many Christians today. That's not stated in a judgmental manner. That's offered as a cry of grief. Whatever happened to sin? It seems like we Christians are much more comfortable with it than we should be. To our own detriment.