Viewpoint

Sin in a secular world

Jeff Morton wonders whether we need to think again about the meaning of sin

MANY years ago I was driving home from Cambridge when I saw a wayside pulpit outside a Baptist chapel bearing the words of Romans 6:23: ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.’

As my car crawled through the traffic towards my home in Ely, I reflected on the text and what it might convey. To the average person with no religious convictions, the words would have been an enigma. As someone who embraced Christianity in my twenties, I wondered what purpose was served by the message. Was it an advert for the chapel’s services or a warning to the unconverted?

It raises the question as to what the ‘the wages of sin’ means in a world where sin is possibly seen only as sexual misdemeanour or infidelity, and where attitudes towards these are not viewed seriously, unless they involve a criminal offence.

The Bible and The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine regard all those who are not committed to Christ as unrepentant sinners. Most of our non-religious work colleagues and our neighbours, with whom we have good relationships, are good-hearted, kind and honest. They give generously to good causes, including the Army, and do all kinds of stunts and events to raise funds for them. Yet our doctrines describe them as ‘totally depraved’ and ‘justly exposed to the wrath of God’.

This is something that I have found hard to accept. Rather, I see sin as being separated from the Creator of the world in which we live. We have become shackled to a material existence, have lost contact with our spiritual dimension and become prey to the false messages of so-called prophets and odd religious claims.

As most people have settled for a material existence, the idea of sin becomes irrelevant to their daily experience, at least until the time they face their mortality.

Like a leaf from a tree we have become separated from the source of eternal life. We maintain our lives according to the talents we possess as individuals, but this existence in time will wither and crumble into oblivion. There is only one way back to eternal life, just as the wayside pulpit stated: it can only be achieved by reconnecting with God.

The Creator still cherishes what he has brought into being. He came into the world in the person of Jesus, the Word. As John puts it, ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14 Revised Standard Version).

Through Jesus, God acted out of love within the framework of human history. At Calvary God’s revelation was rejected and only in his resurrection power could his ultimate purpose be achieved and his Spirit permeate the world.

Because of the way we were created we have free will and the ability to choose whether to have a relationship with the Creator of this vast universe. The words of that wayside poster are anathema to modern society as we adapt to the ethics of a secular culture, at least in the western world.

It would seem that the redemption offered is treated with indifference by our society. In the words of the First World War padre and poet Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy: ‘When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed him by,/ They never hurt a hair of him, they only let him die.’

There was a time when sin was considered to be the reality that condemned a person to a terrible end. I remember my great-grandmother had a print hanging on her parlour wall that depicted the broad and narrow ways spoken of in Matthew 7:13 and 14. It showed a great mass of people on their way to destruction in a huge fire, while a few people found a way through a small gate leading into the clouds of Heaven.

Today such a vision would perhaps be regarded as a quaint reflection of the Victorian age with no relevance to everyday lives and beliefs. Yet it is not uncommon for people to state that some departed loved one of theirs is ‘looking down on them’.

The challenge for us is how to tell the world that there’s a way of connecting with the God who is behind the creation of the universe. The positive message is that we can have a place in Eternity.

Reflecting the Ligh

Major Haris Giannaros reminds us that, as we look to Jesus, our faces reflect his glory

1 JOHN 4:7–21

‘MY friend, both of us, at this moment, are in the Holy Spirit, you and I. Why won’t you look at me?’ said Seraphim of Sarov to Nicholas Motovilov as they sat outdoors while the snow lay eight inches deep on the ground.

‘I can’t look at you, Father, because the light flashing from your eyes and face is brighter than the sun and I’m dazzled,’ replied Motovilov.

‘Don’t be afraid, friend of God, you yourself are shining,’ said the saint, the last to be canonised before the Bolshevik Revolution.

QUESTION

Take a moment to think about a ‘saint’ you know, a person in whom the Holy Spirit lives and of whom you can say: ‘This is a person of God.’ What are they like?

Take time to ponder before reading our study passage. In verses 7 and 8 John writes: ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.’

QUESTIONS

Think of the ‘saints’ you know. Do you find that they are very loving people? To what extent is love a strong characteristic of who they are? In what ways do they express godly love?

John makes the bold statement: ‘God is love.’ The language here makes it sound as though love is not just an attribute of God’s character but rather his very essence. It is who God is.

When I was in primary school I was taught that some heavenly bodies are luminous and some are non-luminous. For example, the sun is luminous, the moon is not. Although the moon has no light of its own, it shines brightly because it reflects the light of the sun. Likewise, God’s people reflect the glorious light of his Son.

In his Gospel and his epistles, John often uses the analogy of light. For example: ‘Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil’ (John 3:19).

Through the week with Salvationist

– a devotional thought for each day

by Major Jane Kimberley

SUNDAY

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,/ Like a little candle burning in the night;/ In the world is darkness, so we must shine,/ You in your small corner and I in mine. (SASB 870)

MONDAY

‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.’ (Matthew 5:14)

Prayer

Father God, thank you for your presence in my life. Help me each day to share the light of your love to those who live in darkness. TUESDAY

Jesus bids us shine first of all for him;/ Well he sees and knows it if our light is dim./ He looks down from Heaven to see us shine;/ You in your small corner and I in mine.

(SASB 870)