Hookups, Sitcoms, and the Word I Hate Using

5  I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)

I asked my friend what happened. “We got drunk and hooked up” they said in a tone that echoed past choices. It has became a way of life. I was immediately struck at my friend’s honesty and bluntness. Many in this scenario would dance around their choice carefully in an attempt to paint themselves in the best light possible. I then asked how they felt. They unabashedly replied “I’m fine with it”. It was in this that I saw my own sin.

I am guilty. In an effort to teach the message of Christ and the redemption of a broken world, I have watered down His vocabulary. All too often I have attempted to replace the word “sin” with “mistake” or “mess up”. I was reminded this morning that Christ cannot treat in us what we fail to see clearly enough to bring to Him. In this world of sitcom sin, we often disregard the sin in our lives, so desperately trying to frame it so it looks better than it is. We see the sin in others and in our entertainment as light hearted comedy. We fail to see it as the same instrument that killed our Lord. How many times do we (I) laugh at sin? How many times do I truly mourn it?

There is something of Christ that appreciates the brutal truth. The illustrations in Scripture show us the most broken of situations. Adultery, arrogance, blasphemy, and deception  are all mixed into His encounters. It was the ones who were the most honest – those whose sin sticks to their soul like black at a funeral, that find animated grace. While the ones who skirt the issue, classifying it as a mistake, that find grace suspended, unable to fully work and bless. It is in this last class we are to pity. So close to healing, but too stubborn to accept it. Grace works best in the dark corners of the soul of man for it needs something to radiate, magnify, and ultimately set fire to.

Today, classify your sin. Don’t run or excuse it but own up to it in the confidence of a beloved child of God. Examine how you recognize sin in both your life, and the life around you.

Lord, forgive me for taking sin so lightly. Forgive me for laughing and calling it by a name you wouldn’t give it. Show us how to trust your grace.