Whatever Happened to Sin?

Many moons ago, when I was a freshman in high school, smoking was about the worst thing kids would do. By the time I was a senior, it was “going all the way,” if you catch my drift. Perhaps that’s when sin began to be erased, or at least the idea of sin.

 

Since then, humans have worked tirelessly to accept, normalize, and even protect sinful actions. What we once knew as sin—because the Bible said so and because our consciences made us feel it—no longer has that label.

 

Think about it. What thing, considered wrong and sinful when you were young, is fully accepted today?

 

The big one I mentioned earlier hits a bit closer to home:  sex outside of marriage, aka sexual immorality, or fornication, as some Bible translations call it.^[1] Not only was it wrong, but we knew it was wrong and tried to hide it. (I didn’t come to Christ until I was married with two children, so that should explain a lot. And I take full responsibility for my part in the dissolving sin—which is why I’m writing.)

 

Living together, or shacking up as my parents called it, was taboo. Nowadays, it’s the norm. And since the ’70s sexual revolution, no one is shocked by it, nor do we want to broach the subject. If we dare say this is against God’s law, we are chastised.

 

But that isn’t even the worst of it. Lately, if you are a person with a deeper skin tone than what is considered “white,” you can commit a crime—pass bad checks, take drugs, resist arrest, and be touted as a hero. If you are a Lieutenant in the military, you can set up your smartphone to record a video after evading cops for over a mile, refuse to get out of the vehicle when ordered, and still be commended by your branch of the service. This type of insubordination would not be tolerated if this military man disobeyed his superiors. But when it’s a police officer giving the orders, that’s another story.

 

And more recently, in Columbus, Ohio, you can even wield a knife while wrestling someone intending to stab them, disregard repeated orders to drop the knife, and then be considered a wonderful young woman. Yes, this girl did lose her life because of her stupidity, and any death is terribly sad. But why do the public and the media make the one protecting the people from this maniac, the criminal?

 

I say it’s because sin is no longer sin.

 

God speaking through the prophet, Isaiah, said, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine…mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man!”^[2]

 

And the worst thing about this upside-down thought is that when sin isn’t sin, there’s no fear of eternal punishment AND no need for a Savior.

 

Now I realize some unbelievers have always been this way, considering the Isaiah passage, but it feels worse now. The numbers are growing, the age of criminals younger, and the crime more intentional and vicious. There’s no concept of wrongdoing—pride, arrogance, and entitlement have taken over. And while our focus is America, this thought is throughout the world, just in different forms.

 

So, how do you convince someone they need a Savior if they don’t believe the wrong (sin) they are doing is actually wrong (sin)?

 

Only God can, for Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”^[3]

 

But how do we know they are being drawn? Maybe the Share Jesus Without Fear question is a good place to start. “If you were to die today, where would you go?”[4]

 

Pray, and go in the LOVE of Christ,

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[1] II Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19

[2] Isaiah 5:20-23

[3] John 6:44

[4] http://www.sharejesuswithoutfear.com/