I mentioned in the introduction to this series psychiatrist Karl Menninger’s book, “Whatever Became of Sin?”. Karl Menninger, in the 1990, Life Magazine special edition, was named one of the 100 most significant individuals of the 20th century. Dr. Menninger wrote a number of very influential books, but none more influential than this title, “Whatever Became of Sin?”.
On pages 18-20 of this book Menninger attempts to bring his readers into an understanding of the definition of sin: “The wrongness of the sinful act lies not merely in its nonconformity, its departure from the accepted, appropriate way of behavior, but in an implicitly aggressive quality – a ruthlessness, a hurting, a breaking away from God and from the rest of humanity, a partial alienation, or act of rebellion….Sin has willful, defiant, or disloyal quality; someone is defied or offended or hurt. The willful disregard or sacrifice of the welfare of others for the welfare or satisfaction of the self is an essential quality of the concept sin….And sin is thus, at heart, a refusal of the love of others.”
He went on to say a few paragraphs later, “In some form, all of us repeat the experience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, seeking to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in order to find out for ourselves whether what has been ‘told’ us is the real ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ of things.”
In other words, each of us personally rebel against what has been “told” to us. And that first voice of the knowledge of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is God himself. Sin is basically rebellion against God telling us what is right and wrong. Is it any wonder why society has attempted to do away with God? If we can destroy the concept of God then we can do away with any personal responsibility for not doing what we have been “told”. And if there is no God, then there is no Bible, the written record of right and wrong.
We noted that Menninger also said, “sin is thus, at heart, a refusal of the love of others.” Perhaps the most known verse found in the Bible is: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “For God so loved…that he gave…” So in our personal rebellion against being told anything, we refuse the love God gave through the personal gift of His Son’s death for our sin. Since we do not want sin accountability, we dismiss the need of the Son’s death for sin, and thus sin. Unfortunately, when we refuse love, especially God’s love, hate fills the void left in us.
We hate our neighbor because he has more than we do, so we steal from him (his business, his personal stuff, his wife), or we murder him to get rid of that vision of him having more than we do, or we start rumors that are designed to destroy him and all that he has. And if we do destroy him some way, we often find that same hate we administered toward him coming back on ourselves, to the point that suicide fills our minds until it is accomplished. And if not suicide, we shed the personal responsibility of our actions by laying the blame at the doorstep of a new victim until that hate totally destroys our life. All of this because we refuse to accept personal responsibility for our sin, and our need to accept the sin-cleansing love of God.
Most people around the world will acknowledge that there is evil. Less will acknowledge there is sin. When we refuse to acknowledge sin exists, and that we personally are guilty of sin, we declare that we have no need of a Savior who can take away our sin. That declaration refuses the love of God, and opens us to hateful actions that can lead our personal selves to being guilty of evil: thievery, murder, false witness against our neighbor, drunk driving that kills, angry assaults, etc. Yet at the same time we claim we are not personally responsible (we have a sickness, or society is responsible for our actions). When we claim there is no sin, we become open to evil of the worse kind.
Long before our generation some sins were converted to crimes. There was no need to confess these sins before God or fellow believers. Instead, the perpetrator of the crime was arrested and punished under law. If, after years of punishment, the said crime became popular (adultery for instance) then the act ceased to be a crime, long years before, ceasing to be a sin. The act may seem uncomfortable in some circles, but it was not a “sin”. It was a choice that enhanced life for the one practicing adultery.
However, adultery still leads to divorce, even in this “enlightened” age. Divorce breaks apart families, and the breakup of families traumatizes the children. Traumatized children often lash out against other children at school or in the neighborhood. The child lashing out is often taken into custody by legal authorities, starting a pattern for criminal behavior as a young adult. But ask the one who committed the adultery that led to the divorce if they are personally responsible for the behavior of their child, and their response will most often be “No! I’m not responsible for the choices he made, and I am not my child’s (brother’s) keeper.”
This same behavior started the sin pattern in mankind. Adam and Eve had a spiritually adulterous affair with the serpent of old, which created a break (divorce) in their relationship with God. This breakup between God and Adam and Eve traumatized Cain who lashed out against his brother Abel and killed him. The legal authority (God) brought him in for questioning, and Cain’s answer to God’s question, “‘Where is Abel your brother?’ was, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’” (Genesis 4:9).
“I’m not personally responsible for anything.” Clearly, that statement is a lie. Sin is rebellion against the right and wrong that was revealed by God. The rebellion against being told to not commit a wrong inflects harm on oneself and others, shown over and over again by the evening news. The posting of the Ten Commandments is not harmful to children; rather the not posting of the Ten Commandments leaves them to assume that lashing out at someone has no consequences, thus harming them severely.
Each of us are personally responsible for the wrongs, sins, we have committed. I can call it “a sickness” when and if I murder my brother, but my brother is not sick, he’s dead, and I am responsible for his death because I allowed hate to replace the love God offered to cleanse me of sin. Even though we may not commit murder, we have committed sins that broke our loving relationship with God, and the only solution is to confess our sins before God and receive His gift of His Son’s sin-cleansing act of sacrifice for our sin. Then, and only then, we will be relieved of our personal responsibility for our sin and directed toward a life without sin. More on that later.
We all may want to do away with the notion of sin, but sin will not be done away with by the will of man. Sin, and the resulting evil, will only be done away with by the reigning Christ. You know, the One who dead for your sins in order to do away with them. Why don’t you accept that great gift for yourself! (By the way, He’s standing by watching you read this. Talk to Him.)
All comments are monitored and after approved will be posted. Thank you.