Thirty years or so ago, I remember applying for my learner’s permit (the precursor to a driving license) at a dimly-lit office in Chennai, India.

We were ushered into a musty, dank room full of files. Test papers were distributed. No other information was dispensed. Before we could answer the test questions, however, the person in charge barged into the room. He then began to announce the answers to the multiple-choice questions on the test. “Question 1…B. Question 2…D…” and so on. 

I remember being wide-eyed and frazzled. What was happening? Wasn’t this blatant cheating?? I looked around the room. Everyone else was circling the responses as the guy nonchalantly called out the answers like he was taking roll call.

There was no time to even read the questions. Suppressing my guilt, I simply filled in the answers as the guy dictated them. 

We all passed with flying colors (Surprise, surprise!)

Fast-forward thirty years, and my son goes for his learner’s permit test.

He is told to sit in front of a computer screen with a camera angled toward him. 

This time, the person in charge doesn’t call out the answers to the test questions. 

She just fills them in on her laptop, instead. Yup, she fills in the answers to my son’s permit test! All my son has to do is blink a few times so he looks “real” on screen for anyone who bothers to check the footage.

He passed the test with a 14 out of 15. The official made one mistake, so the test would seem more genuine.

This is how “systems” work in the developing world. And most times—as in the case of agencies issuing learners’ permits—your hands are tied. You can’t beat ‘em. So you just join ‘em. Righteous indignation has very little space in the dingy spaces of road transportation offices in India.

These two “tests,” thirty years apart, made me think about how we view sin.

Over the years, we seem to have put a sophisticated spin on it. We have given it an upgrade. We have polished it. Made it sparkly.

And in doing so, we have diminished the “sinfulness of sin.”

Ironically, in this very post, I excused sin under the guise of “systems.” 

But friend, it would serve us well to see sin for what it truly is: rebellion against God.

We choose to do things our way rather than God’s way.

We choose to be our own gods.

We choose to make our own rules—convenient, comfortable rules motivated by selfish intent. 

That is sin.

Today, sin wears fancy pant suits and high heels—like it’s untouchable.

It acts normal—like it’s unavoidable.

It goes by aliases that sound less sinful—“mistakes,” “messes,” “failures”, “frailties,” “brokenness,” “blunders,” … the epithets are endless.

But unless we understand the sinfulness of sin, we can’t grasp the graciousness of grace.

We have all entertained the idea, “Is it really such a big deal?” 

And the answer is yes. Sin is a big deal. Because our innate corruption corrodes our relationship with our Creator.

It’s not just about the outward action. It’s about the “sin behind the sin.” 

What motivated that seemingly innocuous action?

When we allow God to probe our hearts, we see both the sin behind the sin and the sinfulness of sin.

But we don’t have to live in condemnation. Because the God who saved us is the God who sanctifies us.

May we not hide behind sophisticated sin or sanitized sin. 

May we instead humble ourselves before the God who forgives our sin and wipes the slate clean. He doesn’t disqualify us based on the degree of our sinfulness. Instead, He draws us back to Himself through loving kindness. (Romans 2:4)

When we’re convicted of the gravity of our sin, we’re also confronted by the graciousness of God. 

 

 

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