Susan Narjala
Keeping it Real
It’s Time We Brought Back “Sin”
Yeah, I admit. That’s a clickbait-ish title. But, I assure you, it will make sense eventually. Hear me out.
In recent years, we’ve grown less accustomed to hearing that little three-letter word, “sin.” I’m not talking about popular culture where I wouldn’t expect the word “sin” to be bandied about, unless used to convey something exciting (Like those ads with taglines which go, “So good it’s sinful”). I’m referring to the word “sin” almost fizzling out from Christian spaces.
I’m in my mid-forties now and, from what I remember, pastors and Bible teachers talked about sin a lot more a few years ago. Perhaps, it was overused. Perhaps, it’s now old-school. We seem to have found synonyms and substitutes for the word. We use words like messes, fallenness, frailties, faults, mistakes, goof-ups and—the most popular one—brokenness.
Now, you may be wondering why this is such a big deal. Why would I need to devote an entire blog post to a word that may be slowly sidelined from the Christian lexicon? Here’s why: words create worlds. Words help us identify and assign meanings to concepts, ponder them, and perpetuate them. Language shapes reality.
So, yeah, words are important. I’ve built a whole career on them (Insert comment about how AI is taking over my job. Yes, I know, my word-based vocation might soon be extinct. That’s a different post for another day.)
But here’s the thing: when we find substitutes for the word “sin,” we dilute its meaning. We underplay its weight. We minimize its consequences. Synonyms make sin sound less sinful.
It’s not merely about language or semantics; it’s about our hearts.
If I yell at my daughter in uncontrolled anger, that is sin. It results in brokenness—my daughter is wounded, our relationship is fractured, and my heart is in pieces.
By acknowledging my sin before God and my daughter, I have the opportunity to repent—and the Word reminds us that repentance leads to life. (Acts 11:18)
Calling sin out as sin is not about condemnation. It’s the starting point of life-giving transformation.
Here’s the thing: it’s impossible to repent from brokenness. We can heal from brokenness. But we cannot repent from it. We need to receive forgiveness for our sin from God before we can heal from our brokenness.
So, friend, can we bring back the word “sin” into Christian spaces—our pulpits and stages and social media posts and conversations? It may sound old-school, obsolete, and even over-the-top. But I would venture that it’s necessary.
Jesus didn’t die for our messes and mistakes.
He died for our sins.
May we acknowledge the full and ugly weight of our sin. May we allow it to shatter us.
And may we come to Him broken—because, as David says, “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
Brokenness before God over our sin is a beautiful place to be.
As Tim Keller says: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
May we acknowledge the depravity of our sin so we can recognize the divine splendor of Christ’s rescue.
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MEET SUSAN
Comments
10 Comments
Sabrina
Buongiorno 🤗
Come sempre ti leggo molto volentieri
In poche righe riesci a spiegare concetti fondamentali
Che nostro Signore ti benedica grandemente
Un abbraccio
Susan Narjala
Grazie mille, Sabrina. Sono felice che tu legga i miei contenuti e mi incoraggi fin dall’Italia! Grazie a Google Translate per avermi aiutato a capire le tue parole. Ma ancora di più grazie a Dio per le sorelle in Cristo in tutto il mondo! – Susan
Peter
Thank you, Susan for your thoughtful reflection. Love your breezy style. Wind-assisted takes on sacred significance to those familiar with and regularly resuscitated by Gods ‘ruach’.
“Behold the Lamb of God who ‘takes away’ the ‘sin’ (singular) of the world”. The 4th Gospel is the only one to mention this, placing this startling, very public introduction to Jesus on the lips of his wild and fearless prophet cousin referred to as The Baptist. He is the only one to refer to Jesus in these terms, mentioning the title twice in this encounter. Jn 1:29, 36.
It’s only in Revelation we read any other mention of Jesus as Lamb. Nine times. No explicit association with Sin — Revelation’s first mention of the Lamb “standing as though it had been slain” probably comes closest to implying The Baptist’s association with sin.
Ever noticed how ‘Sin’ language in religious conversation can seem like a catch-all for all religiously disapproved, socially disagreeable, legally criminal or morally questionable thought, speech, attitude, emotion or actions? Or that it seems to be Scripture’s sobriquet to refer to state of being — the out-of-kilter-ness of all ‘be-ing’, ‘be-coming’, ‘be-having’ and ‘be-longing’?
The misalignment of all our longings, as St Augustine points out? Bent arrows constantly ‘missing the mark’? Makes one wonder ‘what mark’? What universally informed, innate and instinctual ‘ought-ness’?
Sin as a ‘as-basic-as-biology’ besetting, broken between-ness which breaks all? Hence, brokenness?
Surveying the language of Scripture, is ‘sin’ always synonymous with iniquity, transgression, uncleanness, falling short of God glory? If not, then what are the Bible authors (or translation teams) wanting to convey by these terms, particularly to the audience they had in mind?
Interesting to note the first mention of ‘sin’ in Scripture. It isn’t to name Eve and Adam’s seduction by the Serpent.
Is Scripture more mythic (true myth), magnificently metaphoric in its first mention of ‘sin’ in Gen 4:7?
Do ‘first mentions in Scripture’ count for anything in particular?
Does it help to keep The Baptist’s ‘first mention’ of Jesus in mind as we consider this?
Susan Narjala
Thanks, Peter! As always your insights are alliterative, esoteric, and Scripture-laden. I’ll have to read your words a few more times before I can respond with anything substantive. Meanwhile, thanks for engaging with my content and encouraging me in my pursuit of communicating God’s Word! Blessings, Susan
Sandy Powers
Amen! This is so true! I just wish there weren’t so many Christians who call out sin and sound more like pious judgmental Pharisees than like Jesus, who continually called sinners to come to Him exactly as they are! They push people away from wanting anything to do with Christianity or Jesus because based on the Christian’s calling out of their sin, they believe Jesus would never accept them. I love this quote from a pastor who was speaking on this very subject: “Our task is not to protest the world into a certain moral conformity, but to attract the world to the saving beauty of Christ.” That is the passion of my heart. That our unbelieving world would know Jesus‘s unbelievable love for the sinners he longs to reach. Although my own father was a Baptist preacher, I didn’t know Jesus personally until I was an adult when he reached me with a love so deep and life-changing that accepted me just as I was: a broken mess. It drew me to repentance and salvation!
Susan Narjala
Oh, this is so good, Sandy. Thank you for sharing this. I love your pastor’s quote. We sure aren’t here to condemn, but to lift up Jesus in all His glory. Your story sounds powerful. I’m sure the beauty of Jesus in your life has drawn many to Him. Blessings, Susan
Paul Davies
Thank you Susan! That differential of sin vs brokeness really struck home with me.
We sin and ‘miss the mark’ so often and are in dire need of true repentance and God’s grace.
God Bless (and please keep going with your ‘real’ dialogue – we don’t need the fake AI stuff!
Susan Narjala
Thanks, Paul. I, too, needed to have those nuances clear in my mind to truly grieve over my sin and then heal from the brokenness. Appreciate your encouragement about the “real” conversations! Blessings, Susan
Maura
This reminds me of the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in that the tax collector called himself a sinner. May I remember that I too am a sinner.
Susan Narjala
Yes, so true. That story is a great reminder. Thanks for sharing, Maura! Blessings, Susan