A Thought For The Week Of June 9

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) I'm often amazed by the number of people who shy away from the word sin. After church this past Sunday I was speaking with someone who said, "we don't sin anymore you know. We just have obstacles to overcome." I think he was joking - making his own personal commentary on how unsettling it is that even Christians prefer not to discuss sin. Still, I'm willing to acknowledge that to some extent the language of "obstacles to overcome" works. What is sin if not something to be overcome? Something that entangles us? Something that gets in the way of our relationship with God. As an analogy, "obstacles to overcome" isn't bad, but maybe it isn't powerful enough. Maybe we need to reclaim the word "sin." I don't mean that we should overdo it, and pile guilt on people and make them feel more and more hopeless. But I am suggesting that the word "sin" captures a reality that "obstacles to overcome" doesn't. If they're just "obstacles to overcome" then it's basically about us. We've done something wrong, we need to overcome it. It's too easy to leave God out of the equation with that language. Not so if we talk about "sin." Sin is a trespass against God; it's doing that which God does not want us to do. And if it's a trespass against God, then it follows logically that only God can release us from the consequences. I don't propose to define sin any farther than that here, but just to suggest that we need to reclaim the word "sin" as a means of making sure that we understand the severity of the obstacles that are to be overcome - they're obstacles we erect against God - and so that we understand the source of the strength we need to overcome them. It's not by our efforts alone that we'll do it, but by God's grace and strength acting within us: a grace that came to us and is with us in Christ, and a strength that's available to us always through the Holy Spirit. Reclaiming the word "sin" encourages us to claim these God-given qualities and to live a renewed and transformed life as a child of God. Have a great week.