Our culture’s problem is not primarily that they don’t understand sin. This is important as we note the shift in our culture. In other words, knowledge of sin comes with knowledge of God. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is…what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. John Calvin makes this point early on in his Institutes when he argues that man can never truly know himself until he contemplates the face of God. Seeing God showed them who they really were. As they beheld the glory of God, they saw in themselves their own unworthiness and unholiness. In both instances, knowledge of sin comes with knowledge of God. When Simon Peter witnessed Jesus’ miracle in catching so many fish, he begged, Woe is me! For I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts! (Isaiah 6:5) When Isaiah saw the glory of God in the temple, he cried, So, what’s the answer? Start with God, Not Sin Why did Jesus have to die (and so horrifically!) in order for me to have a great life again? And so, in an attempt to gain traction with people when talking about sin, we lose the whole plot of the gospel. Why on earth would God punish me (and so severely!) simply because I made a mess of my life? And if judgment makes no sense, then the cross makes no sense. And if I have no real understanding of guilt, then judgment doesn’t make sense. Whilst this approach might convince someone that sin is bad for them, it doesn’t show them that they are bad. It gains serious traction! But there is a problem. This immediately connects with people and speaks to their felt needs. Appealing to God’s good plan for your life or the way that sin has made a mess of your life, the evangelist helps people see that sin is harmful and that God’s way is best. One way has been to emphasise the consequences of sin rather than our guilt before God. This is not a new problem, and for decades pastors and evangelists have tried new approaches to gain traction with their hearers. After all, why would someone who thinks that bad is good agree that they are guilty? But it loses traction with others-particularly young people. It still tends to gain traction with those from a religious background, particularly migrants. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that it’s bad to be bad. Appealing to God’s high standard (Matthew 5:21-22) or the wickedness of our heart (Mark 7:14-15), I try and help people see that they are far worse than they imagine. My standard approach to talking about sin has been to talk about our guilt before God. Duh.Īnd so, in a culture where bad feels good and bad is good, how do you talk about sin? Losing Traction or Losing the Plot Virtue signalling has replaced virtue, so that today a ‘good person’ is simply someone who believes in the right causes and likes the right posts.
We are witnessing the rise of an ugly self-righteousness. At the same time, being bad (as the Bible would define it) is now often seen as morally good. We used to be Ned Flanders-now we’re Mr Burns. Christians who were once thought of as good but boring are now seen as hateful and bigoted. Christian morality is increasingly seen as bad and harmful. In the past our culture rebelled against Christianity, but it never doubted that Christian morals were good. Now, Christian morality is increasingly seen as bad and harmful.īut today, being bad doesn’t just feel good. The song picks up on the common theme (albeit sarcastically) that being ‘bad’ is cool. Last week, Billie Eilish topped this year’s Triple J’s Hottest 100 with her track “Bad Guy.”
So how do you talk about sin? How do you get someone to realise that they are ‘the bad guy’? If you don’t know that you’re a sinner, you won’t know that you need a saviour. If you want to share the gospel, you need to talk about sin.