Here is a new word for most of us: “Sin.”

I was raised in a strict family, and when I was young, people talked about that. To the credit of my parents, I was kept from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, and I am healthier today. It wasn’t all bad, but morals, in those times, were different from now, and I don’t think I’m really old yet. Cultures around the world have changed, and I think mass media and the Internet have moved quickly away from religious thinking about behaviour that is immoral, or wrong.

I remember a beautiful summer day, when my brother and I were working. He had a newspaper route, and we had to wait for a truck to drive by and leave us another bundle of papers, to be delivered. Sitting in the sunshine and talking about young boy things was fun, and harmless. Everything changed suddenly, when an older woman came out of her house and almost assaulted us. She lectured us severely about being lazy and not getting our job done. My brother tried to explain, but she didn’t want excuses, she wanted to see hard work. She shouted and scolded us severely, and our only hope was for the truck to arrive with our last bundle of papers.

The problem worked itself out, as expected, but being scolded by an older neighbor for apparent laziness was not a big surprise. Wrong behaviour or “sin” was a big part of the culture, in those days. We solved the problem, in the long term, by avoiding that location, if we had to wait for some reason. Staying out of trouble was always our best strategy. For boys like me, not getting caught was always the best strategy.

But Romans chapter one has some direct and forceful things to say about “sin.” We are told that some things are simply and clearly wrong, and we must know that if we want a relationship with God:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  (verse 18) 

And 

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  (verse 21)

I am writing as a Christian, and it is simply true that there is wrong that needs to be made right, at the foundation of the faith. Every religion and ideology in the world is based on things that are wrong and need to be made right.

In history, a young prince left his comfortable palace, and he was shocked to see how hard life was for so many ordinary people. He developed a strong sense of wrong, when he saw hardship among the ordinary working people. That princes name was Bhudda and he started a world religion because of “sin” that bothered him.

Communism has a very strong belief that some things are wrong, in the world. Karl Marx saw the struggles of ordinary working people, and he developed a solution to the “sin” of capitalism.

Today, we have a war between Hamas, a Muslim religious group, and the nation of Israel. Both sides have a strong sense of wrong, and they represent two major religions, Judaism and Islam. They may not agree on the specifics, but they have the same basic foundation; something is wrong in our world.

Almost every Christian building, and many people who identify as Christian have a symbol; a cross. We can easily forget that crosses were used to execute criminals, and they are similar to a picture of a hangman’s gallows. That symbol of torture is the foundation of Christianity. The founder was executed on a cross.

In the book of Romans, we have an explanation for the cross:

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5: 8)

If we believe anything, we need to know what “sin” is for that belief system. Politicians will tell us what is wrong with the other side, and every religion and social movement has a clear picture of the wrong that needs to be made right.

The followers of Jesus, Christians, have a different starting point. The wrong or “sin” in me needs to be made right. That is the only way to find God, in that faith. One man, in history, became very unhappy with his own moral failures. He was a slave trader, and a very cruel man. After he found forgiveness for his own sin, and he came to God on that route, he wrote a famous song. He made it personal. The man who put other people in chains, was freed from his own chains.

I hope we can all find the truth in these words: