The Doctor of our souls has also placed the remedy in the hidden regions of the soul, recognizing that the cause of our sickness lies there when he says, "Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). He seeks to correct not so much our inquisitive and unchaste eyes as the soul that has its seat within and makes bad use of the eyes that God gave it for good purposes.
~ John Cassian ~
Anyone acquainted with Christian thought is probably aware of the common label attributed to the human race: sinners. Christ taught this, Paul taught this, and continuing on the Church has preserved this understanding of mankind seeking to remain faithful to Scriptures attestation to man’s condition. However, I think time and culture has somewhat manipulated the nuances of what it means to be a sinner so that what the early church thought concerning this matter differs significantly from our current conception.
It seems at
this point that a lot of Christians believe that “sin” refers strictly to
particular wrong actions they do. For
example, lying to a neighbor, viewing pornography, outbursts of rage, etc. From this perspective man’s soteriological
need is only for forgiveness. We have
committed acts of sin towards God or other persons and need to receive pardon
for these particular acts or else suffer eternal damnation. Salvation then consists of God offering to
forgive all past, present, and future sinful actions making us able to live
eternally with Him with no fear of punishment.
Now, as such,
that story is truly beautiful.
Forgiveness is beautiful. Indeed,
Divine forgiveness is most beautiful. Truly, I would never argue with the fact that these offenses need Divine forgiveness.
But…to me
this salvation story doesn’t quite satisfy some of my persistent intuitions
about human nature. And I think many of
the Church fathers would agree with me.
What about
those times when I so desperately want to sin on the inside, but somehow
refrain from external manifestation (i.e. actions) of sin? What is going on inside of me then? Can those desires be called sin? What if I
never acted out on these desires? Would I still be called a sinner? Would
I still need a savior? Could I possibly
live my entire life without ever succumbing to my fatal sin attraction? If so,
then perhaps Christ did not need to die.
Maybe I could have made it safely to heaven by careful, thoughtful
living.
No, I think
the purpose of Christ’s death is made even clearer in light of this inner
brokenness. In fact, I think it is due
to this inner brokenness, this desperate state of disarray, that we are called
sinners. Post-fall we have become
disillusioned. Our spiritual eyes cannot
see straight the path before us. Our minds have become
obsessed with sensuous things and persistently distract us from our true end. This
internal dysfunction of our soul (i.e. our disordered desires) makes a
righteous life impossible to live in our own power and necessitates the
intervention of our savior. This the reason we are called sinners.
Only at this
point do I see acts of sin fitting into their proper place. In this disrupted state people inevitably
live incorrectly. Just as a car with
broken belts ceases to properly perform its function, so a person with a disordered
soul fails to live the way it should.
Therefore, the essence of sin is not in actions – though they are an immediate
consequence – but in the disorganized state of the soul.
So, we are
called sinners as a description of the state of our soul. We don’t
just need our sins forgiven. We need an
overhaul of our nature! We need God to enter our disorganized, messy state and
bring back order and peace to our internal, spiritual workings, allowing us to
relate to Him, others, and the world around us exactly the way we were intended
to. Indeed, that is a beautiful
story. That is why we are called
sinners. That is why we need our savior.
