What is Sin and am I a Sinner?

Even if you’ve never set foot in a church, you’ve probably heard of sin. You know, “Sin” with a capital S: the bad stuff that supposedly ends in all that fire and brimstone. The word still gets thrown around, even if religion is not as central to everyday life as it used to be. So if we are going to talk about God, faith, or morality, we should probably sort out what sin actually is.

What does sin mean?

So, sin then. What’s up with that? Have I done it and is it contagious?

I’m afraid so, yes. Sorry. Well, you’ve done it for sure, but it’s not contagious as such, not like the flu or something. But you’ve done it for sure. Probably several times today at least. In fact, you’re almost certainly an expert at it. Well done you.

Now, you probably thought you were doing okay, sin wise, being a good person and all that, but nope, sorry. You’re just an ordinary sinner like the rest of us. Bring on the hell fire and damnation and I hope you packed your fireproof suit.

But hold on there a moment, we should probably talk about what this “sin” actually is, before anyone gets worked up. It would seem only fair. I mean, if you are going to tell people they’re guilty of something you should probably let them know what that something is. Ignorance being no excuse and all that. Especially with all that talk of hellfire, damnation as so on. If they’ve done some things wrong, it’s only fair that they know what those things are, if only so they can avoid them in future.

So, what is ‘sin’ then? Is it just the Ten Commandments? You know, no murdering, stealing, coveting etc, or maybe the seven deadly sins, most of which I can never remember? What is it, exactly?

Everyday examples of sin

Well, I’m afraid the news is not good, at least not initially. The dictionary describes sin as any wrongdoing or breaking a moral or religious law. Now, you might not have broken any religious laws yourself, especially if you are not religious, but we have all broken a moral law or two at some point. Never told a lie? Really? Never taken a cookie out of the cookie jar without asking and then said it wasn’t you? Never called in sick because you simply could not be bothered going to work? Really? Somebody let the Pope know we’ve got another saint.

OK, so we have all been guilty of a little white lie or petty theft now and again. Big deal? Well, you see, the thing is that all those lies and thefts might seem trivial, proper sin, capital “S” sin if you like, is actually much broader than that. In fact, it is pretty much unavoidable, no matter how much of a “good person” you might be. Hell is going to be a crowded place.

Can thoughts be sinful?

The problem is that capital “S” sin, the full-on version with hellfire and damnation and all that, does not necessarily require you to do anything. Sure, the little lies and thefts count, but so do plenty of everyday reactions we barely notice. Get annoyed because a friend rings while you are watching your favourite program? Sinner. Get frustrated because your partner puts the cups in the wrong place in the dishwasher? Sinner. Think to yourself that your boss is a complete and total…? Sinner. You don’t have to act on any of these thoughts, by the way. Just having them is enough. Feel envious because your friends are going away for the weekend and you can’t go because you have to work? Sinner. Sorry. You might look like the epitome of kindness, gentleness, and patience to everyone else, but by the letter of the law, what you think to yourself can be as much a sin as anything you do, or anything other people see you do. Why? Well, let’s take a look at that.

Why sin matters if God is perfect

Why is sin something we can think as much as something we do? It is a reasonable question. You may have wanted to kill your parents many, many times when you were a teenager. I did. But that does not make you a murderer, so why does it make you a sinner? Unfortunately, this sin business has been poorly explained for as long as it has been a thing, which is forever, really. We have been told we should not kill, steal, or covet our neighbour’s wife’s arse, I mean ass, I mean your neighbour’s donkey. Never mind. But we have not always been told why. Sure, it is wrong. We all get that. But what has not been made clear is the result of these wrong things. Sin matters not simply because it is unkind to other people or bad for us. It matters because it makes us imperfect. Sin separates us from God because God is perfect, and as soon as we think even the smallest selfish thought or do the smallest thing wrong, we are not. And if we are not perfect, we cannot be in the presence of someone or something that is.

Why sin matters even if you are not religious

“So what?” I hear you say. “If I don’t believe in a god, what does this concept of sin as imperfection matter to me then? If I’m a good person in the eyes of my friends, my family, my colleagues, even society, that’s all that should matter.” 

Well, yes, that’s a reasonable argument. That stuff does matter and maybe that will be all that matters to you. However, let’s persist in our understanding of sin as a concept if for no other reason than it helps to understand what people are talking about. And you never know, it might turn out that this sin is not as big a deal as we first thought.  

Confused? Let me explain. For too long religions of all persuasions have focused on sin to try and convince people to “join up”, if you will. Stop sinning or you’ll go to hell where it will be unbearably hot and you’ll be tormented by being made to binge watch TV shows you hate with relatives you can’t stand. Except you can’t stop sinning, can you? You can be a total saint 99% of the time and then one tiny little envious thought and your done for. So, what are you supposed to do? No wonder some people see religion as one big guilt trip. But fear as a recruitment tool is the equivalent of using a cattle prod to get cows into a truck. The cows might go in but they’re not exactly overjoyed about it. And now, in modern times when the existence of a god is not necessarily the default belief of the population anyway, attempting to convince people that they’re doomed to hell doesn’t quite have the same sex appeal. To many, if not most nowadays, sin is a word their parents or grandparents might have used when you did something wrong as a kid. It’s just not a thing.

So, are you a sinner? Well, yes, you are, but that is not really the point. We are all sinners by definition. Even Mother Teresa, Gandhi, or the Dalai Lama would be sinners by definition. But again, that is not the point. The point is that if you believe in any sort of god, sin is not the final issue anyway. Any believer in a god will expect to be forgiven by the grace of that god, reincarnated to try again, or otherwise offered some path beyond failure. Otherwise, what is the point of believing in that god? You might as well be an atheist.

But that raises another point, does it not?

Why should a non-believer care about sin if believers are all off the hook in the end anyway? Well, there is a reason, and sorry if you thought for a minute there that you were off the hook. Whether we believe in a god or not, we should still be trying to do the right thing and become the best people we can be. A religious person should be trying to stop sinning and become a better person; otherwise, what is the point of bothering with religion? No religion offers deathbed confession as an option, you might have noticed. It’s not ‘do whatever you want as long as you say sorry before you die?’ No. Your behaviour on the journey counts, and deathbed conversions carry the obvious risk that you might not get to have a deathbed at all. Run over by a bus, anyone? That would make a deathbed confession a little difficult. Believer or not, saying, doing, and even thinking the right things is still the right thing to do. You should not get annoyed at your friend when they call at a bad time, because how could they have known it was a bad time? Maybe your partner does not see the same importance in how the dishwasher is stacked. Maybe you are being a pedantic pain in the….and should listen to them. Maybe your boss has pressures and responsibilities that you do not understand and might need your support.

So, are you a sinner?

So, are you a sinner? Yes. Does it matter? Well, yes, it does. If you believe in a god, then you should be doing your best to live as he, she, it, or they would want you to live. Otherwise, what is the point? And if you don’t believe in a god, you should still be trying to become the best person you can be, avoiding things that you know are wrong in your conscience or that might harm another person, even in a minor way. Avoiding “sin” is simply another way of saying we should try to do what is right.

But the most important point is this. In the end, your decision about whether there is a god should not be based on guilt about sin or fear of a ‘warm reception’. Believe in a god, or don’t, based on what you consider the most satisfying explanation for the existence of the universe and your place in it. But don’t base it on fear. Fear is an entirely unsatisfactory basis for faith.