Soldier On! w/Leroy Garrett — Occasional Essays

Essay 96 (11-5-05)

WHATEVER BECAME OF SIN?

Back in 1973 a psychiatrist, Karl Menninger, authored a book by this title. After an extensive survey of the ills of human kind, the doctor concluded that something basic must be wrong with the human race, whether one uses such terms as sin, crime, wrongdoing, mental illness, etc. He found such complacency toward the idea of "sin" that he thought it appropriate to ask Whatever Became of Sin?

It appears to be the case as much today. People have their shortcomings and they make mistakes, but no one sins anymore. Moral failures and anti-social behavior are accounted for on the grounds of dysfunctional family background, lack of educational opportunity, racial discrimination, and various other conditions that render one blameless for his conduct. It is always something in "the environment" that made them do it. It seems that no one is responsible for sins anymore. They are not seen as personal sins, but as the failures of society. If the government had spent more money . . .

This mentality of "holding society responsible" for the violent behavior of some of its own overlooks the fact that thousands have risen from a disadvantaged background to become law-abiding and productive citizens. Menninger had a point in insisting that it would help to recognize that we are dealing with sin -- sins for which people are to be held responsible.

It is interesting that the doctor -- after creating various categories of sin -- concluded that the essence of all sin is hate. As he put it, hate is "the germinal word that links all sin," and all sin, particularly hate, leads to self-destruction. He concluded that the Bible has it right that "the wages of sin is death." The doctor may have been close to where most societies are today in naming hate as the germinal sin. Is it not hate behind most of the terror and violence in the world?

The medieval theologians included hate among the seven deadly sins, but they saw pride as the primal or germinal sin. All sins are produced by pride or self-conceit, they allowed.

But we live in a society that takes little note of pride and hate. Some may have emotional problems and others may be going through a mid-life crisis -- but nothing these days is caused by hate and pride. Sin has been swept under the rug.

Someone has likened this smug complacency toward sin to a society lady at a garden party who is told that a lion has escaped and is thought to be nearby. "Oh, yes?" she says, as she takes another bite of her cucumber salad.

We might best deal with this complacency by studying the nature of sin, which is to ask What is sin? We will seek to answer this in two ways -- by noting some synonyms for sin (definition by synonym), and by lists of sins (definition by example). The Bible informs us well in both of these. This approach should serve us well. What other terms does the Bible use for sin? And what precisely does the Bible name as sins?

There are two terms in the Old Testament that go far in pointing up the nature of sin -- "Our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities" (Isa. 59:12). Transgression means to go beyond God's word, to rebel against his authority. Iniquity is the most profound synonym for sin. It is willful disobedience, not just a failure growing out of ignorance or weakness.

Psalms 51:4 has an informing parallel: "Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." Sin is doing what is evil in God's sight -- evil being that which is harmful and destructive.

Paul names two synonyms for sin in Romans 1:18: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Ungodliness points to a broken relationship with God, while unrighteousness refers to a broken relationship with one's fellow human beings. The context shows that ungodliness is a deliberate, willful ignorance of God -- a refusal to accept whatever light God might give. Unrighteousness is such sins as Paul names in that chapter -- such as "lusts of the heart" and "a debased mind."

There are occasional definitions of sin, such as "All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17), and "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).

While our Lord never dwelt on the nature of sin, he repeatedly dealt with its reality. And sometimes he used impressive synonyms, as in Mark 7:20: "What comes out of a man (out of the heart) is what defiles a man." The Lord makes it plain: sin is what defiles. Likewise in the story of the prodigal son Jesus cites "he squandered his money on a life of debauchery" as a sin, though he doesn't us that term. But he at last has the wayward son saying, "I have sinned against heaven and against you." The son's sin, according to the story, is willful separation from his father. But apparently Jesus did not believe the doctrine of total depravity, or he would not have said of the wretch in the pig pen, "But when he came to himself he said, I will arise and go to my father." It is a story of both sin and redemption.

If we study the nature of sin by those things named as sins -- definition by example -- we do well to begin with Jesus' catalogue of sins in Mark 7:21-22. He begins by saying that these things "come from within, out of the heart." Sins of the heart are to be distinguished from errors of the mind or intellect, which are less serious.

In the list that Jesus gives, I quote from the New King James Version first, and then Phillips Modern English in parenthesis. This will serve to better understand what the Lord says.

Evil thoughts (evil thoughts)

Adulteries (lust)

Fornications (adultery)

Murders (murder)

Thefts (thefts)

Covetousness (greed)

Wickedness (wickedness)

Deceit (deceit)

Licentiousness (sensuality)

Evil eye (envy)

Blasphemy (slander)

Pride (arrogance)

Foolishness (folly)

These are the sins that mattered most to Jesus, and they go far in defining sin. They are sins of the heart and they corrupt the soul. They get close to where we all live -- lust, envy, foolish thinking and irrational behavior, selfishness, arrogance, sham. These are not simply weaknesses or shortcomings. They are the sins that separate us from God. It is understandable that theologian Paul Tillich would define sin as alienation -- from both God and man, and even self.

We are not likely to see the glory of God's grace and mercy until we see the depth and degradation of our own sins. Our Lord described the lowly publican as "righteous" when he prayed "God, be merciful to me a sinner."

(To be continued)

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