Recently, I received an amazing photo of my newest great-grandchild, John Luke Russell. Our family gushed over it. We studied his facial features—his little nose and Cupid’s-bow mouth. What makes the photo all the more extraordinary is that John Luke has not yet been born. It was taken during our granddaughter-in-law’s ultrasound. The image is so spectacular you can’t help but marvel at the miracle of life.
Just a few weeks later, the governor of Massachusetts signed a bill into law that makes it legal for a mother to abort a baby just like John Luke, right up to the day of delivery. A number of legislators who sponsored the bill stood behind her, smiling, clapping, and celebrating the right to kill a fully developed, totally innocent little child. How decadent can our society become before the wrath of God falls on us?
We develop euphemisms to minimize the wretchedness of sin. It is not murdering a baby; it is “health care” or “reproductive rights.” It is not adultery; it is an “inappropriate relationship” or “an alternative lifestyle.” It is not drunkenness; we are just a “little buzzed” or a “little high.” It is not lying; “we misspoke.” It is not gluttony; our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. It is not profanity; it is colorful street language, and we tease, “Forgive my French.”
We see so much evil that we become numb to it. Sin no longer shocks us. We say, “Abortion has always been around.” “Everyone uses the ‘F’ word.” “Everyone cheats on taxes. It is no big deal.” Even preachers avoid the word sin and substitute more palatable words like “addiction” or “mistakes” so as not to offend anyone.
We may laugh at sin, thinking humor somehow reduces its horror. “He was so stoned he walked off the deck and fell into the pool. We almost died laughing.” The late J. Wallace Hamilton once asked, “Is a drunk boy staggering down the street comedy or tragedy?” Then he added, “If it is my son, it is not funny.” Love makes a difference in how we view sin. The Bible makes it clear that our loving God does not giggle at sin that destroys His children.
When wrongdoing is recast as illness, a mistake, or somebody else’s fault, accountability fades. We excuse what God calls sin and then wonder why the conscience grows dull.
In 1973, the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger wrote a book titled Whatever Became of Sin? He warned that the word sin was disappearing from common speech and that wrongdoing was increasingly explained as illness, disorder, environment, or trauma. Explanations can help us understand behavior, but they must not erase moral responsibility. Menninger’s warning feels prophetic today.
Occasionally, evil is put on full display, and we are temporarily shocked and appalled. Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a university event. Records from the Epstein cases remind us of the sexual exploitation of young girls. For a moment, we are repulsed by evil and demand accountability. But it is soon forgotten, and we return to normal. Familiarity does not breed contempt; it breeds indifference.
Genesis says that when the Lord saw how great human wickedness had become, He regretted that He had made mankind and judged the world with a flood (Genesis 6:5–7). Second Peter warns that the present heavens and earth are “reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7).
Many who have a heart for God are praying for spiritual revival. That is certainly what is needed most. But spiritual revival begins with repentance. Repentance involves conviction of sin, genuine contrition, and a determination to change.
Bill Weedman recently began a talk to more than one hundred men at a breakfast by stating, “I am not going to give a pep talk this morning. My speech is more like a kick in the butt!” We soon realized that his honest assessment of men’s immaturity and immorality was exactly what we needed to hear.
I am convinced that if we are to avoid God’s judgment as a nation, we do not need many more inspirational sermons. We need a renewed emphasis on the doctrine of sin. Before we emphasize God’s love and grace, we first need to underscore God’s holiness and wrath. Before we preach forgiveness through the cross of Christ, we need to return to the Ten Commandments so we are once again convicted of our sin. Before we highlight the hope of heaven, we need to warn of the horrors of hell because “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
Maybe that is why Jesus began preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17).
