Talking about Sin…
This week’s conversation topic dissects the topic of sin. What is sin and how it plays a role in the life of the believer and non-believer of Christ? I found this idea to be challenging because we live in a post-modern society that does not see things in the same way as the rest of the world. A post-modern society claims that what is wrong or bad for one person is not wrong or bad for the other. The definition of sin is different for one person to the other. sin is such a hard topic to dissect because while Christianity is straight forward about sin, other religions and beliefs do not see sin the way the Bible defines it. The Bible is straight forward about its definition of sin. The Bible depicts what is tolerable and what is not tolerable. Christians base their definition of sin on Jesus’ teachings and on the Ten-Commandments, but other beliefs do not have the definition of sin that we have. They have their own definition of sin (and others don’t even call sin a sin) and live their lives avoiding or changing how their lives are impacted by the act of “sin”.
While talking to sin I discovered that the word “sin” does as a matter of fact have a spiritual context. To Randy, the word sin signifies something that is done, and when sin is committed then God is going to punish the sinner. Sin has the association that when it is committed then the God of wrath will show up to show his power and wrath on the world. For Randy, the definition of sin as punishing oneself. He views sin as the Spanish saying that states “el que se enoja pierde” (the one that gets mad looses) because sin is taking negative energy and one punishes one’s self. Sin is something that is bad, but it only affects the self.
Everyone has some type of sin in their lives (or as Randy stated that a sin can also be a vice), but it is through that sin that we are doing damage to our lives. One is to try to be sinless by focusing on doing good for the self in order to not hurt one self. According to Randy, we are to try to do good to to ourselves in order to do good for others. We have live lives that strive to do good for others in order to become something better. Randy sees the discrepancies of faith when it deals with the idea of sin. Sin to a Christian is something that is bad and angers God while for a Buddhist, sin is something bad that hurts the self.
When trying to define “sin” we felt the need to dissect the components of sin and we concluded that sin is an evil. Randy defined evil as doing something that is harmful to the self. Evil is an association with ourselves. What was a challenge for me to realize was that Randy does not believe in Satan, therefore his definition of evil and bad did not derive from Satan. For Randy, sin is a stamp that someone is doing something bad to one’s self and not the self doing something bad to others. Evil and sin are things that affect those around us, but the one that is the most affected is the beholder of the sin. On the other hand, for a Christian sin is seen as something that is done that affects those around us. Personally, to me sin means that I am doing something that God does not like and just like Randy said, makes God mad and even sad. Sin is something that I do and I do not see it as affecting me personally until the day of judgement. It is almost as if I am storing sin points up in heaven and when I get there that is where I am going to get what I deserve. I do not really see sin as something that affects me immediately, but as something that I do and hinders my relationship with God. Maybe that is why it is so easy for me to sin. Would it be reasonable to say that I sin more easily because it does not always affect me personally or immediately? Is it easier for me to sin since I do not see God’s reaction and wrath upon sinning? Why is sinning and doing evil easier than doing the right and good thing? Why is sin more appealing?
The author states that “people won’t come to Jesus unless they have a reason to do so”. This was an interesting comment made by the author that I thought would bring us to a good point in our conversation. To me, this statement makes sense because I see it from a Christian point of view. It makes sense to me to go to someone greater than me when I need to make some changes to my life. o me that greater being is God and I can find Him through Christ and his forgiveness. But for Randy the change does not come through Christ or through Buddha. For Randy it is more about seeking forgiveness of yourself through the teachings of Buddha. He feels comfortable seeking forgiveness and guidance through the teachings and principles that are being taught by the Buddha.
Upon looking at this I realized that we are both looking for the same thing, but we go about it in a different ways. While I go to Jesus for forgiveness of my sins in order to live a righteous life, Randy follows the teachings of Buddah in order for find forgiveness and rid himself of evil in order to live a righteous life. Or definitions of sin are different, but our goal is the same.
Our conversation led us to think about the word sinand what comes to mind when one thinks of sin. What are thing sings that are the most challenging? We determined that sin is a process in which people are destroying their lives. The sin that we though was the biggest one was not money (you know, “money is the root of all evil”) but desire. Desire is the root of all evil because it leads to all other sins and it is the sum of all the deadly sins. If you think about it, desire is what leads us to do the things we should not do. Desire is what leads and tempts us to do the evil things we know we should not do. A lot of times it is easier to say “Satan made me do it” and blame it on the king of evil, but Satan cannot make you do anything you do not want to do. For me, as a follower of Christ, I look to God for guidance and support. I realize that I am not perfect just because I am a follower of Christ because I still sin, but that does not mean that God loves me any less. For Randy it is very different. Randy keeps from sinning through constant reminders to not have the desires that cause him to sin. It is about discipline and self accountability.
The book defined sin with words such as: failure, losing the way, falling short, short comings, flawed, not quite right, wrong, trespassing, twisted, missing the mark, imperfection, breaking the law, evil, wrong doing, messing up, rebelling, hurting others, making a mistake, and many others. But the comment that I appreciated from Randy was when he said, “If we are changing for a gain then it is a waste of time, because we should change for the outcome, no matter the results, it should be because we want to be better”. This comment goes along with what the Peace mentions that “nobody changes without a reason to change. All change begins with insight: insight into who we truly are, warts and all, insight into what our life is meant to be over against our deep desire for ease and comfort, insight into how the world works with all of its pain, conflict, and death”. We are called to do great things with our lives, but because of the evil in sin we impair ourselves and hurt others because of it. With sin we hurt ourselves, but those around us feel the consequences too. “Sin is not just what we do wrong; it is what we fail to do. It is not just bad deeds; it’s failure to do good”.
Sin should not be all about what is done and how mad it is going to do to one person or the other. Sin is more about the communal aspect of society because even though we commit sins all the time, those sins are the actions that affect other people. They cause harm to the self, but they also cause pain to those around us. Sin is the evil that is brought onto this world through our actions and sometimes our selfish desires. Whether you are a follower of Christ of Buddha, sin is something that affects every human being. Sin is the evil that hinders and impedes us from reaching our goals as believers.
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