What is Sin?

The Curt Jester's very witty post on Sinbot 2.0 prompted this post.

I used to think sin was, well, bad stuff people do. To sin is to get angry with someone, to commit adultery, to steal, and so forth. To sin was to cross the line, to engage in some sort of prohibited conduct.

That's only sort of true, I now think. One can walk out of church after confessing or receiving, be nice to everyone one meets, etc. and still be a sinner.

How does that work?

A list of prohibited conduct only makes sense when we talk about cultivating a relationship with God. Stealing is not wrong just because God said so; it's wrong because it impairs our relationship with God. But what is that relationship supposed to look like?

Two groups of people generally strike me as interesting examples of deep and consuming love: children and young people in love. Both groups dwell on the object of their love nonstop, whether it's a parent, a teddy bear, a girlfriend, what have you. Such a person can't stop thinking about his beloved. A little boy counts the hours till his father comes home from work. A young man sees his girlfriend's smile in every object of beauty.

These people desire closeness, and express that closeness even when they are alone: their thoughts inexorably center on those they love. When that obsession begins to diminish, it's natural for us to see a lack of love. When a little boy grows up and spends more time with his friends, or when a man loses interest in a woman, some aspect of love has been lost. Both have decided to devote their time and energy to something else.

Our relationship with God isn't all that different. Sure, I may not lie or steal in the days after confession, but do I really love God? So I see God's Hand when I gaze upon creation? Is the Immortal Name of Jesus Christ always on my lips? If my hours are "sinless" in a rule-based sense, yet my heart is not turned towards God, then am I really blameless? When I break a sin-rule I place my own will above God's no less than Satan did when he rebelled. When my heart is turned towards the fleeting goods of this life and to my own cares and concerns, have I dethroned God any less?

I recently read a brief monastic treatise that eloquently made the point I'm clumsily trying to make.

Pray that the Holy Spirit may teach us to pray sincerely and unceasingly.