Sin Is Social

There are plenty of ways to define sin from the bible. One of them is say that sin is social. Social sin is a way of building structures in society that privileges a few and marginalizes the many.

On Sunday a couple of people pointed out that the scripture passage for the first half of the sermon felt unusually fresh, direct, and helpful. Working in politics and activism, this word gave them renewed energy to press into their callings with a sense of divine blessing:

Woe to those who make unjust laws,

    to those who issue oppressive decrees,

to deprive the poor of their rights

    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,

making widows their prey

    and robbing the fatherless. - Isaiah 10:1-2

Through Isaiah, God is unabashedly political in critiquing laws, in valuing rights, and in naming oppression. This is not unlike how Jesus said “Woe to you…” to communities in the Gospels when they were not more welcoming and inclusive (for example Mt 23:13 and Lk 6:23-25).

How do you feel about God playing politics like this?

Are there certain rights for those who are marginalized the Spirit might be inviting you to care more about?

Are there ways you’ve been complicit in the oppression of those on the margins?