9-21-26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is an old joke I used to tell in which my grandparents were the players. But it is even older than they were: that\u2019s how old the joke is. Anyway, the wife is ill and can\u2019t attend church on a Sunday morning. She tells Granpaw to go on his own, \u201cbut don\u2019t doze off like you always do! I want to know what the sermon is about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he returns home she asks about the service, and what the pastor preached about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUm\u2026\u201d her husband stammers. \u201cUh, it was about sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell? What was the message? What did he say?\u201d she demands.
Gradpaw stammers some more and finally says, \u201cHe was against it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, the old joke is not much of a joke, but it is old. But it is also new. Not only that people snooze during church services or sermons, but it makes me realize that sin actually seems to be a rare subject for sermons these days. In most churches I visit — mainstream, Evangelical, traditional, post-modern, \u201cseeker,\u201d charismatic, orthodox, whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If someone unfamiliar with our society dropped in to American churches over the course of a year of Sundays, he might conclude that humans have solved the problem of sin, because few pastors and priests address the problem of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is probably because people don\u2019t think sin is a problem. Why else? Or, they don\u2019t think it exists in the lives of their own congregations, or in society at large. Or, they think it might exist, but its effects are not as bad as people used to think. Or that earlier religious views exaggerated its negative aspects. Or that denominations were scare-mongers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 or that God really didn\u2019t know what He was talking about. Or that the lessons of people and events in the Bible were nonsense. Or that Jesus, Who came to \u201csave us from our sins,\u201d was a deluded fool. What else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, uncountable preachers in what used to be called Christendom preach on citizenship, prejudice, racism, LGBTQ \u201crights,\u201d environmental responsibility, pending legislation. Important issues, perhaps, but more proper subjects for a Rotary Club lecture, not a little hour on a Sunday morning. More worthwhile, or appropriate in worship settings, is preaching on Biblical history, foreign missions, concern for the oppressed, charity, perseverance, the Gifts of the Spirit. And maybe salvation, the Lordship of Christ, personal holiness, discipleship, even Jesus, certainly at holiday times. All good, too, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But these days, scarce mention of\u2026 sin. Even, as that old man in the joke assumed, if people say they are against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is sin obsolete? Are contemporary Christians too sophisticated to talk about it, or worry about it? Are they immune, as from diseases that now exist only in history books? Is the concept of sin really something on a par with mere mistakes, faulty upbringing, insufficient knowledge? If \u201cno one is hurt,\u201d for instance in the category of \u201cvictimless crimes,\u201d is something a sin after all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and so forth it goes. Now, some pastors \u2013 and teachers and political leaders too \u2013 avoid addressing sin and related moral topics, wanting to avoid offending people. You know, potential members, \u201cgiving units,\u201d voters. But I believe such motivations are less frequent than society\u2019s general unease with the essential problem of sin<\/em>. That is, the challenge of sin that affects our lives, that threatens our souls, that sends us to hell. Yes, there is a hell; yes, sin exists; yes, our choice to sin interferes with our relationships with God as His children. Not our temptation to sin nor our occasional lapses; but the vital question of making a commitment to the Lord to renounce sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember what Jesus said when Jewish leaders wanted an adulteress stoned to death and wanted His approval: \u201cNeither do I condemn you; go and sin no more\u201d (John 8:11). He did not say that she needed to support foreign missions or tithe her possessions or join a committee. Be determined to stop sinning is what he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, for those of us who fall and \u201cmiss the mark\u201d (a definition of sin) as we all will, unfortunately, He died for those sins of ours. That pathway to forgiveness and eternal life offered by God required that we renounce sin, and accept that His Son became flesh and dwelt among us for the purpose of redeeming us from those sins. We, as redeemed sinners, are not perfect; just forgiven when accepting Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does the church need a return to \u201cfire and brimstone\u201d preaching? Merely \u201cbeing against sin\u201d is not working: Look at the headlines, at the social woes, at the depressing statistics in the world. Scaring people out of hell might be a Number Two motivator after Loving people into Heaven, but our job \u2013 as well as our goal! \u2013 is to make Heaven crowded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is this our choice, sinning or salvation? Technically, yes. These days when churches, denominations, and religious \u201cleaders\u201d avoid addressing the reality and dangers of sin, they send people to hell no less than the devil does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sin is not an endangered species, but preaching against it growing obsolete. That is, in itself, a sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n