Whenever a sentence starts with those four words, I’ve learned to prepare myself for at least a few of the following background conditions:
- The student has already had an argument or disagreement with a peer or their parent about the sinfulness of the act or behavior in discussion.
- The student is bored and wants to talk about something else.
- The student is hoping I’ll agree with them and validate their position, or condone their behavior.
- Moralism is in the student’s mental background radiation, so if it IS a sin… someone’s going to Hell.
- A simple yes or no will probably ignore the underlying issue.
- This is probably not going to be a question that the Christian community has agreed upon a unanimous answer.
With these things in mind, and with lesson plans to push through, my answer is often, “Depends,” or “Maybe,” followed by “and we can talk about that when we have an open discussion/question day.”
“But Mr. Seals… it is question day.”
“Oh yeah.”
What is Sin?
If we are going to condemn something as sin, then we need to be on the same page about what exactly IS a sin.