Ever since Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain top, the notion of sin has been much discussed.  What constitutes sinful behavior?  Is sin situational?  Are we as humans inherently destined to sin?

Many Abrahamic theologians have attempted to tackle these very questions.  Some question whether pre-destination in some ways mitigates what sin is—if we are destined to act in the way we do, are we being sinful?  The Catholics talk about categories of sins—venial sins (such as cheating on an exam) are lesser sins that do not result in “eternal damnation in Hell” as a mortal sin would (such as willful, premeditated, unrepentant murder).  Some philosophers have debated whether a sin committed in thought is as bad as a sin committed in action.  If we can’t pinpoint what sin is, how are we to recognize exactly when we are being sinful versus being rude or inconsiderate?

Webster’s dictionary defines sin in three different ways:

• an offense against religious or moral law
• an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible
• an often-serious shortcoming

Using these three definitions, it becomes easy to see why breaking any of the ten commandments is traditionally held to be sinful.  I am fairly certain that there would be universal agreement that committing murder is an offense against moral and religious law.  While there are those who would argue that some murder may be acceptable (for example, capital punishment or in the case of war against terrorism), for the most part I think we believe that murder is truly “offensive” as it disrupts the natural order of a moral society.

Likewise, I believe that most of us believe that the act of unilateral adultery is reprehensible, particularly when children are the ones who suffer most.  Social standards have changed significantly, but there are very few adulterers who are admired amongst their friends and family for their act of adultery.  Breaking a family up as the result of selfish desire is, I believe, easy to describe as being highly reprehensible.

Lastly, I believe that most parents would classify obstinate behavior by their children to constitute a serious shortcoming on the part of those children.  Moreover, the more intense the dishonor heaped on the parent, the more serious the shortcoming is viewed.  I know there are many parents who wish that this particular commandment would get more attention in Sunday or Hebrew School.

But the problem with Webster’s definition is that those definitions can be interpreted pretty widely.  If I consider wasting food to be reprehensible, does that mean that every restaurant owner is egregiously sinning any time food is thrown away?  In some cases, food is being discarded to follow health codes and laws—so is the owner being lawful in the act of “wasting” food or is he being sinful?

Similarly, I was taught that if I talked back to my parents I was demonstrating a significant shortcoming.  Yet there are cultures where arguing is seen to be an acceptable form of discussion or conversation.  Were my Italian classmates merely following accepted behavioral tradition when they argued vociferously at the dinner table or were they acting sinfully?

As I have stated before, I am not a theologian so the thoughts that I bring on this subject are truly the thoughts of one man and are intended to spur conversation and further questioning.  I don’t claim to have the answer to any of the above questions but I do have a point-of-view that I believe is worth sharing and has some validity.

At the heart of all sin is a sense of self-centered entitlement.  We act sinfully when we consciously choose to put ourselves and our “needs” ahead of, and often at the expense of, anyone or everyone else.  Some acts like stealing are a conscious choice of entitlement—“that person has more than I have and it’s only fair that I get my share”.  Others may not be as implicitly conscious—“if my wife loved me more/better, I wouldn’t be cheating”—but are, nonetheless, sinful acts because of where that act comes from.

We become masters of being able to justify how we behave because we think that it’s our God-given right to get what we don’t have, when we want it.  We think that our education, our family background, our money gives us different rules to play by.  We can think that it’s acceptable for people to live in poverty because we believe, to some extent, that poverty is caused by laziness.  We can think it’s acceptable that minorities make up the majority of the incarcerated population because they are products of different background.  We can think it’s acceptable to cheat on our taxes because we already pay more than our fair share and the more money we keep, the more charitable we will be to “those less fortunate”.

But these actions are all as sinful in thought and deed as any of those prohibited by the Bible or outlawed by our justice system.  The reason is that these actions stem from a sense of entitlement and cause a sense of separation and disconnection.  We start to act as self-important individuals without any concern for the welfare of all our brothers and sisters.  And we have seen the moral, ethical and philosophical problems that occur when disconnection is allowed to occur and sometimes even be celebrated.

The lens of disconnecting entitlement also works with evaluating the ten commandments.  When we believe that we are more important than others, we can justify coveting (and even taking) what we want from our neighbors.  When we value our own lives more than others, we can become inured to the violent loss of life.  When we believe that we are gods in our own right, we put ourselves on pedestals and ask that others worship us or our accomplishments.  The net result of breaking is a separation—a separation of us from our fellow-man and a separation of us from God.  We view ourselves as different from, better than, more worth than those around us.

Any behavior that puts this viewpoint into action is sinful.  Any behavior that is meant to divide us versus brings us together is sinful.  Any behavior that puts someone else down, directly or indirectly, is sinful.  Any time we feel confident that we know better than those around us or know better than God and that that therefore allows us to see ourselves as “better than”, we are being sinful.

As humans, we can’t help being sinful.  We have allowed the natural orders of self-preservation to become so perverted that we regularly cast others aside to get ahead and since we celebrate success and fame, we look for shortcuts that advantage us while disadvantaging others.  But that doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye towards sin under the auspices of not being able to help ourselves.  Nor does it mean we should throw our hands up in despair.

We have been given the gift of grace and forgiveness that is bestowed upon us by God and our fellow-man.  We can model behavior that is stridently moral if we truly do unto others as we want others to do unto us.  We can counterbalance the power of sinful acts by loving our neighbors as ourselves.  And we can strive to act less sinful by remembering that each individual’s worth is equal in the eyes of God.  When we put others and their needs over our desires, we are showing a kind of love that helps to mitigate sin.

As Nelson Mandela once said:

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” 

In that vein, one of the worst sin is to stop trying, to stop striving and to stop loving.