Sin
Working recently as a School Chaplain helped me see things in a fresh light. The term ‘sinner’ can be an insult among young people. When we start the eucharist confessing our sins I explain that when we say we are sinners we are recognising all of us do wrong things sometimes. Elucidating sin is a perilous business because no one speaking of it can be distanced from its pervasive influence. There is one extreme downplaying its nature. The people the world might fear most are those claiming innocence from sin. Another extreme, taking Christ’s teaching in Matthew 5:28 literally, sees a lustful thought as the end of the road with God. I remember a friend at university convinced that as he could not stop the thoughts he might as well act on them and have sexual intercourse with his girl friend. It was great to meet him years later back in church attendance, a happily married man. The association of sex with sin impacts the understanding of both. I recall preaching an altar call in the Ca