The Elephant in the Room
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Romans 5:12 ESV
Sin is a fact. Evil is an irrefutable reality. The suffering and heartache of the world we live in is a sad commentary to that truth. News cycles are filled with the tragic stories of man’s inhumanity to man. Our own lives tell a tale too loud to ignore, as sin peers out at us from the shadows of our souls. Within our world, and within our own hearts, there is no escaping its treacherous fingers; there is no denying its presence. Sin is an inner cancer that threatens to destroy everything and everyone we love. Sin is a fact; it is the most dominant of all facts. It is undeniable, and yet, it isdenied.
We need to look no further for proof of this then its omission in the marketplace of discussion and ideas. Since sin is our greatest distress and downfall, should it not be the topic of our most extensive research? But, alas, it is not. Sin is not a topic broached in the schools of our land. No courses are offered in our high school curriculum regarding how to overcome vile thoughts and violent actions. There are no degrees offered at the college level for those who want to pursue a career in how to eradicate sin from our world. There are no books on the best-sellers list that address the scourge of sin.
Apart from a biblical worldview, the topic of sin is viewed as primordial muddle-stuff. Original sin is shelved as an archaic subject belonging to medieval monks and religious sages. The idea that evil even exists is a broken-down whistle stop on the train tracks of progressive thinking. Having now been enlightened, the world has no stomach for the truth concerning depravity.
The human heart, though, is wiser than the prophets of new age thought. You can put a sweater on a pig but it’s still going to roll in the mud. Down deep, we know there’s something wrong inside.
“There is scarcely a fact of which we are more conscience than the presence of evil. It meets us on every hand. Its desolating influence is seen and felt by all. Sin is no mere figment of the imagination; it is a terrible reality. It is no vague, indefinite shadow; it is a real and specific evil.”
The problems of this world will not be solved in the halls of Congress nor in the west wing. Only Jesus Christ and the redemption he brings will pull us all out of the mudslide of this world’s chaos and heartache.
