Rebranding Sin?

This is in response to an article in Leadership Journal.

Adultery and racism are today’s big sins, but many other traditionally condemnable vices have fallen off the list in recent years. In fact, some theologians fear the concept of personal sin is almost lost.

I believe in the bible you can find that adultery and racism were huge sins back then too. How about the Jews and Samaritans not getting along. Practically the Jews and anybody else. You were either a Jew or a heathen. One of the two. So to exclude these two sins to today is wrong.

Presbyterian Tim Keller still preaches about sin, but with lots of explanation “because the word is essentially obsolete,” Keller says. His three New York City congregations are mostly young and single. “They do get the idea of branding, of taking a word or term and filling it with your own content, so I have to re-brand the word sin.”

Are you kidding me. “Obsolete.” I get the idea here. The problem is political correctness. It’s not murder, it’s abortion. Black people are Afro-Americans and Mexicans are Spanish-Americans. You don’t call it a trailer park. It’s a mobile home park. I remember a few years back when they wanted to take the red pen out of schools because it was too devastating to the kid to see his/her answers marked wrong in red. So they used purple. You get the picture.

Sin has never been and never will be an obsolete word. Is it too devastating in New York to say “Oh God, I SINNED!?” Let’s just say, “I screwed up” instead.

…A survey by Ellison Research shows that 87 percent of U.S. adults still acknowledge the concept of sin, but what is “almost always wrong” is changing:

• Cheating on your spouse? Wrong. (81% call it a sin.)
• Sex before marriage? Not so wrong (45%)
• Racism? Wrong. (74%)
• Gambling? Hardly wrong at all. (30%)

Yep. We acknowledge the “concept” of sin, but we won’t straight up call it sin. That would be hurting someone’s feelings. And Lord forgive us if we make someone mad for the sake of the gospel.

So sin, as a list of acts offensive to God first and foremost, is difficult to sell.

That’s because we have come to letting those outside the church tell us Christians what sin is and isn’t. I thought that was our job. Forgive me for being wrong. Go ahead you quasi-sinner. Tell me what sin is again. I forget.

All italics are Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.