After over 180 articles about Christianity, it’s reasoning and its terminology, I still haven’t done one specific to a commonly-used word: Sin. Shame on me! Let’s fix that.
Sin is Not Simply Bad Actions
People often equate “sin” with “evil”. They resent being told that they are sinners because they see it as equivalent to being told that they are terrible, awful people. The truth is both better and worse than that.
Some people are indeed very bad. Some are complete sociopaths, with no empathy or concern about anyone they hurt. Some are totally corrupt, cynically enriching themselves at others’ expense. They are sinners. But many other people are very, very nice. They are honest, helpful, friendly, hard-working, and kind. However, they are also sinners.
That is because, at its core, sin is not about specific actions. As Jesus taught in Matthew 5:21-22 and Matthew 5:27-28, the inner process that precedes the action also counts, even if the action is never taken.
The Bible’s words for sin are Hebrew “ḥāṭā” and Greek “hamartia“. They mean not only offensive actions, but also any kind of error. They mean to miss the mark in any way.
Sin is Poor Marksmanship
A few years ago, I decided that it was time to overcome my fear of guns. The fear was caused by ignorance: I knew that I could not handle a gun safely. Well, ignorance is curable: I took a class. 😁 My local firing range offered a 4-hour class on “Guns 101”. The instructor taught me how a pistol and a revolver work mechanically, how to tell if one is loaded or not, and the four basic safety rules ** that apply to all firearms handling. Then he took me into the range with an easy-to-shoot target pistol and let me actually fire at a paper target. I learned that target shooting is fun! But I also could see that my shots did not all hit the bull’s-eye. I was just happy that they stayed on the paper at all.
That experience helps me understand the concept of sin. The goal sits there, unchanging. If I were to shoot completely, 100% accurately, then it follows that there should be only one hole in the target, dead center of the bull’s-eye, no matter how many shots I fire. Every shot should hit in exactly the same spot. In the years since that first class, I’ve had the privilege of learning from some of the best firearms instructors in the country, who have thousands of hours of practice, and even they can’t do that. That level of perfection is just beyond human ability.
The Target: Walk with God
In our relationship with God, the goal is to always be in sync with Him. The target is to be so immersed in Him — to love and trust Him so much — that I do what He wants, when He wants it, without question. That’s not because He has made up arbitrary rules and gets a kick out of watching me try to follow all of them. No, it’s because He has a perfect plan for everyone’s best interests, and He has a design for how I am meant to fit into that plan. Just like one hole through the bull’s-eye no matter how many shots, however, that level of perfection — hitting the goal exactly, fitting smoothly into my place in the plan, 100% of the time — is not humanly possible. I miss the mark: I sin. I am a sinner, one who sins. So are you; so is everyone who has ever lived…except Jesus.
Jesus demonstrated how it looks when the target is hit and the goal is met. He was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15-16). He said:
…the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
John 5:19, 30
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I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 6:38
That is what the target looks like. That is the goal that I miss.
The Missed Target: Do My Own Thing
It would be easy to say, “Well, what does God expect? I’m only human!” That would be correct, except that He created the first humans with the ability meet this target as well as Jesus did 1. But Adam and Eve deliberately chose to aim at a different target, the one of their own desires, and so missed the only target that matters. Then they passed that flaw down to all of their descendants. Now all human beings find it more natural to follow our own desires instead of God’s. Not only do we unconsciously just ignore Him as we go about our lives, we also hit crossroads where we know exactly what He wants…and choose to rebel and do our own thing instead.
When there is a vehicle crash — car, plane, train, whatever — those who analyze what went wrong check several things. Was there a flaw in the design of the vehicle? Was the problem in the manufacturing, that the vehicle was not built to meet the designed specifications? Was it operator error? Was it malicious sabotage? In human sin, the problem is that Adam’s descendants can’t meet design expectations. The design is fine, but he damaged the mold so that it now produces flawed output.
Does that mean that God should lower the bar, and change the expectations? Should He move the target to something that I can easily achieve? Well, should the paper target at the range move for me? I could move it to only a foot away, and make the bull’s-eye be two feet across, I suppose. But that doesn’t really achieve anything, does it? Besides, the only way that God could change the goal would be to change Himself. Only if He were less holy, less omnipotent, less omniscient, less just, less loving — less God — could He make the standard be any different. Even He can’t do that, and we wouldn’t want Him to.
The Solution
So what is a poor sinner to do? I can’t meet the goal, and I can’t fix myself. What I can do is lean on Jesus, and let Him cover all the many gaps between my shot and the bull’s-eye. Since He did do life perfectly, then sacrificed that life for my sake, and then rose from the dead to prove His victory, He is worthy to carry me…and He loves me enough to be willing to do so. That is simply incredible!
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16:27-34
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“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans 3:22-24, Romans 6:23
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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
** It’s worth taking this opportunity to reiterate those four universal firearms-safety rules. They can’t be repeated often enough:
1) Always treat every gun as if it is loaded. Never do anything with a gun (even one that you have just unloaded, or a gun-shaped object such as a plastic practice gun) that you would not do with a fully-ready-to-fire gun.
2) Never let the muzzle point at anything that you are not willing to shoot, not even for a moment. That includes your own hand or foot!
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until you are pointing at a target and have made the conscious decision to fire. Find a safe spot well away from the trigger for your finger to rest any time you are holding the gun.
4) Be sure of your target and everything beyond it. No shooting at shadows or noises, and remember that bullets can easily pass through sheetrock walls to whatever is behind them.There’s a 5th rule than is not usually listed with the others because it is not “handling” the firearm. But is very important: Never leave the gun where it can be accessed without your authorization. If it’s not under your direct physical control, then have it in a securely locked location (not in a drawer, or a purse in the shopping cart or hanging on the back of a chair, or a closet shelf, or a car glove box).
If these five rules are followed, accidental shootings cannot occur. The gun is just an inanimate object, with no volition of its own. It won’t fire unless something pulls the trigger, and the bullet will only go where the muzzle is pointing at the time.
