The Reformation Project: Thesis 5

5. Christianity is about what God does about our sins. If there is no teaching regarding sin – its origins, its reality, its universality, its guilt, its results, and its punishment – there is no reason for Christianity. 

When discussing the widespread disappearance of the subject of sin from American pulpits, it is easy to turn to the example of Joel Osteen, who has openly declared his refusal to address the subject in his messages, as he doesn't want to drag people down. However, beyond Osteen it is not difficult to recognize the change that has taken place in American pulpits, both evangelical and liberal, in recent decades. Among some, the subject of sin is removed in favor of psychological categories. The notion of sin is often soft-pedaled, and a variety of euphemisms have been adopted. Whereas Scripture declares people to be "dead in their trespasses and sins," ungodly," and even "wicked," modern pulpiteers that bother to address the subject at all are more likely to say that we are "messy" or "broken."

In many ways this is a reaction against another inappropriate way of preaching about sin in present and past generations. Ministers may have ranted against various public sins, generating shame among the guilty while offering no gospel hope. Certainly, that is not the alternative one would look for.

But, it needs to be recognized that soft pedaling sin does the disservice of diminishing one's sense of the love and grace of God. To say that we are messy or broken calls for certain kinds of solutions that may emphasize self-improvement; to recognize that we are dead in trespasses and sins calls for a more radical answer that only can be brought about by one who brings the dead to life.

Perhaps the most amazing verses in the Bible inform us that God justifies the wicked and that God demonstrated his love for us by dying for us while we were yet sinners. Indeed, that is remarkable love and amazing grace. If we don't know enough to recognize our status as sinners and our condition as wicked, we will never understand the greatness of God's love in our behalf. 

Does not the church need to rediscover a robust doctrine of sin?