Coming to grips with what words can hide

The word “sin” has lost its punch. In Christian circles, to say “I’m a sinner,” is not much of a confession anymore. We can even sit in front of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, shrug our shoulders and say it..boldly. No big deal. We’ve forgotten to blush.

Here is how I remind myself of what it means when I say I’m a sinner.

I cannot count the times I have betrayed my God, my family and my closest friends. Behind sycophantic smiles of approval I have jealously coveted and cursed others happiness and wished to take it from them. In the hidden corner of my eye I have indulged in fantasies too shameful to speak of and then scrambled to cover my tracks. And in those hazy corridors of my heart I have killed and tortured with the blackest hatred, pulling triggers, thrusting knives, and smashing faces into concrete.

So when I look at myself in the mirror, what I see is this: a spineless traitor, a cowardly thief, a shameless adulterer, and a heartless serial murderer …  I am a murderer.

…good God

That’s what I really mean when I say “I’m sinner.”

Jesus, the Christ, knew Sin was nothing to shrug at.

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court … You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Let’s stop hiding behind the phrase “I’m a sinner,” and start coming to grips with the monsters that we are. It will make for humbler Christians and more genuine Testimonies.