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This past Sunday I preached about having clean hearts, not just clean hands. I talked about both the sin and the guilt and shame that hinder our relationships with each other and God.
This Lenten season, we will be looking at the cross and what it means. The most commonly understood meaning of the death of Jesus has to do with his taking the sin of the world on to the cross.
But isn't sin a term that is completely out of date? And isn't it judgmental, when you name others as a sinner? Who decides what sin is? Isn't the issue that if it is good for me, it is good?
For years, it feels as if the church has been behavior focussed, without caring about the heart. For example, it is one thing to receive charity as an act of duty on the behalf of the giver, and to receive charity out of empahty and compassion on the part of the giver. Do we focus on the gift given, or on the attitude with which it was given? Could charity giving become a sin? Going to inner motives does change definitions of sin, somewhat. However, we can do damaging things to each other with perfectly good motives.
So how would you define sin? Is it a word that is no longer understood in our time? And if so, what words would you use? |
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