The thinking of many is that "sin" is just a word that should be avoided, or is not applicable in this "modern" day, that it's not that important. Some religious leaders focus on "feel-good" themes, such as Joel Osteen in Houston, Texas, USA, which some have called "the candy man." And to judge another person's action seems to be the greatest sin. The thinking goes that "what you might believe might work fine for you, but you really should not try to impose your thinking on anyone else. No one has a monopoly on moral truth."
This kind of reasoning has brought a change in people's vocabulary. The word "sin" is now rarely used in serious contexts. People are no longer said to "live in sin"; they just "live together". They are no longer "adulterers; they are "having an affair." They are no longer "homosexuals; they prefer "an alternative life style." Why have attitudes changed ? What ever became of sin ? And does it really matter what a person's view might be ?
Although the word "sin" occurs in the Bible over 450 times, yet the thought of sinning against God has been far removed from the eyes of many. There are two aspects to sin - inherited sin and personal sinful behavior. Of inherited sin, the idea of an "original sin" that happened in the Garden of Eden not long after the creation of Adam, "does not sit well with the modern mind. But neither does the idea of sin itself....People like Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin may have sinned, but the rest of us are victims of circumstance and maladjustment."(Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008)
One factor that makes it difficult for people to accept the concept of original sin that occurred in the Garden of Eden is what the churches have taught about it. For example, at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the Catholic Church condemned anyone who denied that a newborn needed to be baptized for the remission of their sins, or otherwise it was destined to "hellfire".
And John Calvin (1509-1564) went so far as to teach that infants ' bring with them their own damnation from the mother's womb.' Their natures, he maintained, are ' hateful and abominable to God.' This has driven people away from the doctrine of original sin, instinctively feeling disgust that a newborn should suffer because of inherited sin from our original parents, Adam and Eve.
Another factor that has contributed to the weakening of belief in original sin was that philosophers, scientist, and theologians in the 19th century began to question whether accounts in the Bible should be accepted as historically true. For many, Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory in 1859 relegated the story of Adam and Eve to the realm of myth. What about the idea of personal sins though - as distinct from inherited sin - that also offends God ?
When questioned about personal sins, many think of the Ten Commandments. The churches have taught to be spared from "hellfire", one had to confess their sins, and in the case of a Catholic, to a priest. However, for most Catholics, the rite of confession, absolution, and penance has become a thing of the past. A recent survey reveals, for example, that more than 60 percent of Italian Catholics no longer go to confession.
Due to tremendous changes over the last few centuries, and especially since the last two world wars, have caused people to reject traditional values, questioning them, ' Does it make sense in a technologically advanced age to live by standards codified centuries ago and completely out of touch with modern realities ?' This thinking has given rise to an extremely secular culture and has caused a general relaxing of morals in the Western world in this 21st century.
As a result, Biblical values were upended, with a new generation subscribing to a new morality and a new attitude toward sin. As one writer put it, "the only law was the law of love"(Situation Ethics, 1966, Joseph Fletcher, former Episcopal priest), which basically found expression in the widespread acceptance of illicit sex.
On "feel-good" religious themes or culture, Newsweek candidly stated: "Many clergy, who are competing in a buyer's market, feel they cannot afford to alienate."(What Ever Happened To Sin ?, Feb 6, 1995) They feel that if they make great moral demands on their hearers, they will lose them as parishioners, and monetary gain. People do not want to hear that they should cultivate humility, self-discipline, and virtue or that they should heed a nagging conscience and repent of their sins.
The outgrowth of this type of thinking is a religious culture that defines God in its own terms, churches whose focus is, not on God and what he requires of us, but on man and what will increase his self-esteem. Thus, the fruit is religion emptied of doctrine. The Wall Street Journal (Sept 17, 1999) asked, "What fills the hole at the center, where the Christian moral code used to be ?" It then continues, "An ethic of conspicuous compassion, where ' being a nice person' excuses everything."
It as the Bible says, that "there will be a period of time when they they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn away from the truth."(2 Tim 4:3, 4) Hence, today many only want to have their "ears tickled" rather than understanding what is right or wrong in God's eyes, what is a sin, ' missing ' the mark of what fully pleases him.
