In an article published in USA Today, Cathy Lynn Grossman suggested that the idea of sin is a disappearing concept in our culture. Perhaps the states that ratified same sex marriage (which is an oxymoron) should give us a clue about this. Sin is being redefined or dumbed-down, so that people no longer take seriously their moral obligation in the presence of God. In the article, entitled "Has the 'notion of sin' been lost?" Grossman suggests that many people relativize sin in their own minds. They still have a hit list of forbidden things, but often give themselves a pass in matters moral. People can very easily point out the sin in others, but have a hard time seeing their own. Something about a log in your own eye comes to mind (Mt 7:3-5), and so how is this different from the common human failing of hypocrisy? People have always been great at accusing others of sin, while they decline to see their own, instead excusing it (Rm 2:15). Have things changed in our cultural consciousness of sin?

When Elliot Spitzer (remember him?) was found to be a patron of high-priced prostitutes it was easy to attack him as unfaithful to his wife, family, and elected office. The media piled on like NFL linemen who have a running back wrapped up at the line of scrimmage. Spitzer didn't have a prayer once the blood was in the media waters. I am not excusing his behavior, not at all, but I am pointing out that a certain sense of sin in our culture led to the feeding frenzy in which we delighted. Spitzer became the sacrificial victim that was driven out of town and stoned for the satisfaction of the community's sense of moral indignation. This moral indignation, however, only reinforces the verdict that we are hypocrites, for we are most indignant about those whose sin is shared by us. We hate the sexual sin of Spitzer because we ourselves are equally guilty, even if that does not include personally consorting with prostitutes. We feel better about our own sin, when another sinner gets what we know we deserve. Christians call this a "substitutionary satisfaction" when another gets what we deserve. Christians don't believe that our sin is covered when another human is driven out of the community and stoned. Only the death of the One who was driven out of the city and crucified on the hill called Golgotha can satisfy God's wrath and become a satisfactory substitute for sinners.

Martin Luther