Where Has Sin Gone?

A Review of“Has the Notion of Sin Been Lost?”

by Cathy Lynn GrossmanUSAToday.com/news/religion

3/19/08

ExcerptsA new survey by Ellison Research in Phoenix finds 87% of U.S. adults

believe in the existence of sin, which is defined as "something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective.“ Topping the list are adultery (81%) and racism (74%). But other sins no longer draw majority condemnation. Premarital sex? Only 45% call it sin. Gambling? Just 30% say it's sinful. "A lot of this is relative. We tend to view sin not as God views it, but how we view it," says Ellison president Ron Sellers.

David Kinnaman, president of Barna Research, a company in Ventura, Calif., that tracks Christian trends, draws a similar conclusion: "People are quick to toe the line on traditional thinking" that there is sin "but interpret that reality in a very personal and self-congratulatory manner" — I have to do what's best for me; I am not as sinful as most.

Indeed, 65% of U.S. adults say they will go to heaven, and only 0.05% believe they'll go to hell, according to a 2003 Barna telephone survey of 1,024 adults. "They give intellectual assent to the story about Jesus rising on Easter Sunday: 75% say they believe the biblical account of Jesus' death and resurrection is literally true, not a story meant to illustrate a principle. But they don't have any personal application of this Monday through Saturday," Kinnaman says.

Review Sin is defined by God and his word

( 1 Jn. 3:4; 5:17)

Sin is “missing the mark” of God’s word (Rom. 3:32; Gal. 6:1; 2 Jn. 9)

Sin is fixed, not relative

Sin is objective, not subjective

ExcerptsPopular evangelist Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in

Houston, never mentions sin in his TV sermons or best sellers such as Your Best Life Now. "I never thought about (using the word 'sinners'), but I probably don't," Osteen told Larry King in an interview. "Most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church, I want to tell them that you can change."

The Rev. Michael Horton, professor of theology at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, Calif., calls this "moral therapy.“ "It's changing your lifestyle to receive God's favor," Horton says. "It's not heaven in the hereafter but happiness here and now. But it is still up to you to make it happen.“ He finds sad truth in an old newspaper headline he once saw: " 'To _ _ _ _ with sin when being good is enough.' That's the drift of American preaching today in a lot of churches. People know what sin is; they just don't believe in it anymore. We mix up happiness and holiness, and God is no longer the reference point.“ In other words, he asks, if you can solve your problems or sins yourself, what difference does it make that Christ was crucified?

Review Sinners need to be brought to guilt

(Acts 2:37,41)

Sin needs to be addressed in preaching and teaching (Mt. 23:28; James 4:8)

ExcerptsEven some people who say sin is real still steer by a

compass of "moral pragmatics," not a bright line of absolute truth, Mohler says. "People say, 'I have high moral expectations of myself and others, but I know we are all human so I'm looking for a batting average.'

"We find a comfort zone of morality, a kind of middle-class middle level where we think we are doing well. We cut the grass. We don't double-park. But we ignore the larger issues of sin.

"Instead of violating the law of the Creator, it becomes more a matter of etiquette. … We want our kids to play well in the sandbox and know their place in line. We want people to do things decently and in order. But it's etiquette of morality without the ethics. The end result is that when we do things we wish people wouldn't do, there's no sense of guilt or shame."

Review Sin is not determined by a personal

“comfort zone” (Judges 21:25)

Sin is not determined by a matter of etiquette, but by God’s word

ExcerptsRules have changed The rise of secular culture also is exerting an influence. More than one in

five Americans (22%) say they never go to church, not even on Christmas or Easter. And 12.1% told a new Pew Forum survey they believe "nothing in particular."

They may be without a church, but "most people still have a notion of sin — like bringing cheap wine to parties," jokes Karsen Case, 34, of Reno. "Seriously, you know what sin is when you get a feeling in your gut that something's wrong."

He hasn't been to church in a decade, although he grew up within the conservative Lutheran Missouri Synod. "I would call myself an atheist now," he says. "But I think the Bible has a lot of good stories. And I do connect with the story of Easter, of redemption and rebirth. It tells me you are going to make mistakes, and you will get another chance to do right in the future."

Secular people still believe there's sin, judgment and punishment, says sociologist Barry Kosmin, a research professor in public policy and law and director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

It's just a different list of sinners than religious traditions teach.

Excerpts"What is unacceptable has changed," Kosmin observes.

"Racism and sexual harassment, which were not sins in the past, are now. Adultery and addiction are just bad or sad behavior. And commercial sex is a no, but breaking the bonds of marriage is not.

"Secularism is situational without fundamental, universal rules. Explanations are kosher. Mitigating circumstances, too. But if people are held guilty, the punishment, of course, has to be in this world, not the next. Secular people don't burn in hell, they burn in the court of public opinion."

Review The more secular (removed from God) a

person becomes the more sinful he will become (Jude 4,15; 1 Jn. 3:4; 1 Jn. 5:17)

Sin as a penalty (Isa. 59:1-2; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1-2)

Unforgiven sinners will be punished, not just in this life, but in hell (Rev. 21:8,27; 22:15)

ExcerptsSelf, not sin Two pastors serving youthful congregations in big cities, long the statistical

capitals of secular culture, say they must talk about sin to be true to their calling. They just have to use 21st-century lingo.

Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan is a modern-day variation of the circuit-riding preacher. He dashes across Central Park to three different leased locations to serve 5,000 worshipers at five services on Sundays.

When Keller, author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, speaks about "sin" to his audiences, which are 70% single and younger than 40, "I use it with lots and lots of explanation, because the word is essentially obsolete.

"They do get the idea of branding, of taking a word or term and filling it with your own content, so I have to rebrand the word 'sin,' " Keller says.

"Around here it means self-centeredness, the acorn from which it all grows. Individually, that means 'I live for myself, for my own glory and happiness, and I'll work for your happiness if it helps me.' Communally, self-centeredness is destroying peace and justice in the world, tearing the net of interwovenness, the fabric of humanity."

Review Call sin what is it, don’t redefine it

(1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5ff)

ExcerptsWHAT AMERICANS CALL SIN • Adultery: 81%• Racism: 74%• Using "hard" drugs, such as cocaine, LSD: 65%• Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change: 63%• Having an abortion: 56%• Homosexual activity or sex: 52%• Not reporting some income on your tax returns: 52%• Reading or watching pornography: 50%• Gossip: 47%• Swearing: 46%• Sex before marriage: 45%• Homosexual thoughts: 44%• Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to: 43%• Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment: 41%• Smoking marijuana: 41%• Getting drunk: 41%• Gambling: 30%• Not attending church or religious services regularly: 18%• Drinking any alcohol: 14% Source: Ellison Research, August 2007, based on 1,007 adults through a representative online

panel ad adjusted to be demographically representative of the USA Margin of error: ±3.1 percentage points.

ExcerptsQuick! Name the seven deadly sins! I admit, I had to look 6th century Pope

Gregory's list: Pride, lust, gluttony, envy, greed, wrath and sloth. Now, a Vatican official has told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano his view of additional modern sins -- more "social" than individual. Mind-altering drugs, genetic manipulation, and economic inequality made his list. I suspect we can't really subtract from the "master list," if you will. But if you were adding to it, what would you say are some 21st century sins? 

Alex 51 wrote: I'd like to add homophobia as one of the deadly sins. Having been SPAT ON by right-wing slavic "Christians" and told I am going to _ _ _ _ simply because I am gay is terrifying.3/25/2008 8:19 PM EDT

digitalbechbum wrote: Sin is a lie. It was created to control followers. There is no god. There is no sin.3/22/2008 4:03 AM EDT

Excerptstwyststar wrote: Sin against a deity should be a forgotten concept, as should the

deity itself. Yahweh has throughout his bloody history committed every "sin" he defined, and yet we are to pattern ourselves after him? Sin now should mean simply an acceptable level of common decency. 1.Don't kill each other. 2. Don't propagate hatred.3. Don't kill the world- this includes willful environmental destruction, overpopulation, sport hunting... stupid and preventable actions.4. It shall be considered sin to act like a jerk without provocation.5. It is sin to practice insistent ignorance... I would include most religious beliefs in this one. ...and of course the best rule, the one about doing unto others, with the Crowley twist that it cause no harm. I live morally because I know it is the right way to live, not out of fear of hell or hope of heaven. Those who need the stick and carrot to live decently scare me to my core.3/21/2008 3:25 PM EDT

Where Has Sin Gone? There is an attempt today to…

- Downplay sin

- Redefine sin

- Normalize sin

- Legalize sin

- Preach sin

Where Has Sin Gone? Sin must be removed, but in the right way

(Acts 2:38; 8:22; 1 Jn. 1:9)