Sin in Sin City

Author Scott McKnight recently had an article in Relevant Magazine: “Why Doesn’t Anybody Talk About Sin?”  In it, he writes:

     To many, sin has fallen into grace. What does that mean? When we talk about God’s grace, we are assuming the reality of sin—that we are sinners and that God has forgiven us. But in our language today, sin is not only an assumption—it is an accepted assumption. And not only is it an accepted assumption—it also doesn’t seem to matter.
     It’s as if we’re saying, “Yes, of course we sin” and then do nothing about it.
     Widespread apathy toward sin reveals itself in the lack of interest in holiness. Your grandparents’ generation overdid it—going to movies, dancing and drinking alcohol became the tell-tale signs of unholiness. Damning those who did such things became the legalistic, judgmental context for church life. So your parents’ generation, inspired in part by the ’60s, jaunted its way into the freedom of the Christian life. Which meant, often enough, “I can do whatever I want because of God’s grace.”
     That generation’s lack of zeal for holiness has produced a trend: acceptance of sin, ignorance of its impact and weakened relationships with God, people and the world.

We were talking at a recent staff meeting, and estimated that in the about 70 weekends of Verve, we’ve probably talked about sin in probably 50 or more of the messages. We are very much about grace, in fact we call ourselves “grace wholesalers” but one of the odd benefits of living in Las Vegas is that sin is not hidden, and it’s impact is obvious.  So talking about?  Not such a taboo.