Be perfect, therefore, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Jesus, Matthew 5:48)
In the Western world, we usually, but inaccurately, think of sin as the breaking of God’s law. We also usually mean something repugnant, blame-worthy, immoral. Here are some typical definitions:
From Merriam-Webster Online:
1 a: an offense against religious or moral lawFrom the Bing Dictionary:
b : an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible
c : an often serious shortcoming : fault
2 a : transgression of the law of God
b : a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God
1. transgression of theological principles: an act, thought, or way of behaving that goes against the law or teachings of a religion, especially when the person who commits it is aware of thisFrom the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2. shameful offense: something that offends a moral or ethical principle
3. estrangement from God: in Christian theology, the condition of being denied God's grace because of a sin or sins committed
II. THE DEFINITION OF SIN
1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law."121 St. Augustine, Contra Faustum 22:PL 42,418; St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II,71,6.
The word “sin” in the New Testament Greek literally means to “miss the mark”. And what is the mark? It isn't merely a commandment or a moral principle, or even a whole set or system of these. The mark, the standard, is nothing less than Perfection! And Perfection, in Christianity, is Jesus Christ.
It's another example of how, in Christianity, Jesus Christ is always the beginning and the end of everything. What is love? Love is Christ. What is Truth? Truth is Christ. What is the Church? The Church is Christ. What is the way to live? In Christ. Who revealed the Holy Trinity? Jesus Christ. How do we interpret the Old Testament? Through “the Jesus window”, as my Anglican friends in Ormskirk like to put it. What is our destiny? Our destiny is Christ. What is Perfection? Perfection is Jesus Christ. In Him, Perfection is both revealed and made concrete. He Himself is the mark, the standard, the definition and personification of Perfection.
What is sin? Sin is anything short of Perfection, meaning anything that deviates from Jesus Christ or is incompatible with Him. Sin is thinking, willing, saying, or doing, anything Jesus wouldn’t if it were He acting in us, as is meant to be the case. More fundamentally than that, sin is being anyone Jesus is not.
Sin is anything that diverges from Christ, for any reason. Even if we don’t know it is sinful. Even if our sin is involuntary. Yes, even if we have been forced to choose the lesser evil. Even, in other words, if a juridical system wouldn’t, couldn’t, hold us culpable. It’s still sin because the main point isn’t whether or not we are guilty; the main point is whether or not we fit together with God. This is because communion with Him, sharing in His Life, His Love, His holiness, is the destiny for which God has created us; and anything that blocks us from this glorious destiny, meaning anything irreconcilable with Christ, is still sin. Whether it is a culpable offense or not, we still need to confess it, turn away from it, grow out of it, struggle against it all our lives long, for the sake of fuller communion in Him. Hence we pray for the remission of all our sins, known and unknown, voluntary or involuntary.
A noteworthy thing about sin is that it is "self-punishing." In fact, that is the very reason God doesn't want us to do it. It's harmful, and He Who loves us beyond measure does not want us harmed. His precepts are not merely expressions of His unfathomable Self, as some would have it, but more specifically, expressions of His Love. He prohibits this or that, and commands this or that, because in His infinite wisdom, He knows what is ultimately bad o