Deeper understandings What is sin?
Still relevant no matter how much society contends it’s an outmoded, old-fashioned idea
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Kristin Johnston Largen and Theodore F. Peters
T
he most stubborn and frustrat- ing aspect of human sin is this: we insist on justifying ourselves before God, and we refuse to accept that our justification comes to us as a gift of God’s grace. “Oh,” you might say, “I’ve never heard of that. Doesn’t the New Tes- tament say sin is missing the mark?
Largen Peters
Largen teaches systematic theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.). Peters teaches systematic theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif.
Doesn’t sin consist in choosing the evil rather than the good? Isn’t lusting a sin? How about coveting? War? Isn’t genocide the greatest sin? Do the Democrats sin when they spend too much money? Do the Republicans sin when they refuse to compromise?” Coveting what others have and perpetrating violence to rob them of their possessions, their honor or their life are some of the things we do individually and as a society that are sinful. When we gossip, we rob someone of their honor. When we go to war, we rob someone of their livelihood and maybe even their life. That’s sin, to be sure. Yet here’s why we think self- justification is a term that expresses a uniquely Christian insight into human nature. Each of us individu- ally, and all of us collectively, want to look good. We want others to think highly of us. We especially want to appear morally strong, trust- worthy and, in nearly all cases, right. This drive to appear right is so strong that we will lie to others and even to ourselves to maintain this moral facade. We would rather that other people, or even God, look wrong just to maintain our status as the right one. We daily draw a line between good and evil and place ourselves on the good side. And what’s more, as Paul points out so well in Romans, we do this even when we don’t want to. We act this way even when we know we shouldn’t. Again and again, in spite of our high-minded values and best intentions, we choose to sacrifice the
18 The Lutheran •
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welfare of others on our own behalf, and then cover it up with the lie that we acted for a just cause. Yet what we consider our just actions can sometimes wreak the greatest injus- tice on others. Being a sinner in this way is an unavoidable part of what it means to be human. In our view, this is one of the
great insights captured by the cat- egory of “original sin.”
The whole concept of original
sin—that is, sin that exists inher- ently, inescapably in us, in everyone, in all human families and in all human societies—reminds us that sin isn’t something we can eliminate if we just work hard enough. Origi- nal sin may not be essential, but it is inevitable. No matter how much I achieve, how often I go to church/ pray/read the Bible—insert your pet pious practice here—at the end of the day, I am still a sinner: 100 per- cent, according to Martin Luther. The starkness of this theological assertion makes us uncomfortable, of course, and so we do everything we can to avoid it. And here we find ourselves circling back to self- justification. Instead of facing our own sinful thoughts and deeds, we much prefer to focus on other people’s sin, other people’s mistakes, other people’s moral failings and failures. I may make a few missteps once in a while, but I’m not nearly so bad as that jerk over there—he’s a real sinner. Besides, it wasn’t my fault, anyway—I really meant to do the right thing. It was bad luck, bad circumstances, a bad day. When Luther read the story of
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