Sin, or “not the way it’s supossed to be”

Being a Christian is the most freeing thing. Especially being a Christian who believes in the doctrine of oroginal sin. Best articulated as ‘that which is inconsistent with the will of God’ and ‘that which profanes God, displeases God, and offends the very nature of God’, the doctrine of sin is probably the most evident and apparent beliefs Christians hold, but one people still have the biggest problem accepting.

Well, what do Christians say about sin?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings. Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called “original sin”. As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called “concupiscence”). Catechism of the Catholic Church, 416-418

From Lutheran perspective, consider this statement from the Augsburg Confession.

It is also taught among us that since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin. That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’ wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to the eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through Baptism and the Holy Spirit. Rejected in this connection are the Pelagians and others who deny that original sin is sin, for they hold that natural man is made righteous by his own powers, thus disparaging the sufferings and merit of Christ.

Or consider this, from Article VII in the Articles of Religion of the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

Original sin stands not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.

My purpose in this post is not to say much about the articles themselves as it is simply to remind us all that they all point out something very important, very unavoidable. Even if you’re a non-Christian, you can’t get around this thing Christians call sin!

Face it, there is something wrong with the world, something wrong with ourselves, something wrong period. If you have ever ranted and raved about anything, you believe in sin. If you are unhappy with your job, you believe in sin. If you dislike particular individuals in politics or culture, you believe in sin. If you bemoan the current ecological imbalances of our planet, you believe in sin. If you hate anything or speak ill of anyone, you believe in sin.

I could go on and on, but basically, admit that if you find yourself pointing out error in anything and repulsed by injustices around you, you believe in sin. A knowledge of sin is actually the foundation from which we all build so many of our perspectives.

Indeed, there is something wrong and we want to see it fixed. Christians just happen to believe that it has been fixed, or better yet, is being fixed by God through Christ. The Christian church has always claimed this, in fact, though lately it seems we are experiencing a tremendous flux  in terms of how we articulate our doctrine of sin and redemption. Which means, we are in the process of re-articulating what we already believe but in a way that is more digestible to our cultural interlocutors. For all the spiritual cynics out there who long for the good old days of hell, fire, and damnation, rest assured that the church has adjusted, responded, and re-articulated Biblical doctrine for longer than any of us have been alive. And yes, this whole mess of sin has remained central to our witness in the world, even if we don’t articulate the word itself.

So how about simply referring to the fact that “things are just not what they are supposed to be?” but that we have no reason to lose hope because of what God has done through Christ. This is the route Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. takes in his book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin. And I think it’s a good one! This book, in fact, represents one of the best culturally conversant, nuanced ways of articulating the very real and potent reality of sin Christians have preached for years, without all the brimstone. Defining sin as any act “that displeases God and deserves blame” and evil as the “vandalism of God’s Shalom,” Plantinga traces the history of sin and its many theological implications, and brings us to the point of recognizing that this is one Christian doctrine everyone believes in and no one can argue with. There is something, indeed. Just don’t forget to flip the coin and admit that God has done something about it. Plantinga hopes his readers will do this, and I do to.

Yes, there is a vast disturbance at work in the world, a disruption in the divine plan that God is working to redeem. Whether evident through genocide, war, ecological imbalances, racism, poverty or whatever else makes our blood boil, God has taken and is taking action in history through Christ to redeem the world and establish His kingdom of justice, righteousness, and peace.

This is why I love being a Christian. I believe wholeheartedly that there is something wrong with the world , wrong with you, wrong with me; and thus, I am not usually all that surprised when things don’t go how I wish they would. That’s the nature of a fallen world. But even more so, I know that this world is not all there is so I have no real reason to lose hope. God has ordained that we all experience so much more than this world has to offer. Yet in the meantime, He is redeeming this world and brining forth His kingdom NOW. So I am also not surprised when good things do happen. That’s the work of God in the world.