A bigger understanding of sin

Martyn Payne

Thirdly, there's the matter of sin - our understanding of it and also how that affects our grasp of the wonder and mystery of the cross and resurrection. Traditional understandings of sin and guilt can become uncomfortably derailed when we work with the very young and the vulnerable. The notion that a baby or a very young child is guilty by active rebellion against God can be troublesome. The whole notion of inherited sin opens up other awkward consequences. Of course children make choices as they grow up, but sin is more often 'the sea in which we all swim' - the brokenness of our fallen world that acts as much upon children as they are themselves actors in it.

An insistence that a child first 'confesses her or his sins' before that child can experience the love of God is one which sets up some confusion and raises important questions, especially in a world where children are genuinely the innocent victims of injustice, war, abuse and neglect and indeed are sinned against in countless ways. This deeper thinking about the nature of sin is another area that children's leaders offer to the wider church from their work and in fact can lead to a much richer understanding of the cross and resurrection as not just simply atonement (an offering of a life for lives) but a truly cosmic healing of the brokenness and a mending of the damage that touches all our existence.

Children's leaders who work alongside those with learning difficulties or the differently-able are particularly aware of this. With children it is not, I would argue, simply a case of an ABC into faith, where the first step is the A of 'admit your sin', but rather - and here this is quite definitely turning everything upside down - a CBA into faith, where the first step is a 'come and experience the love of God' before believing and then admitting your sin. This is perhaps challenging and I know that theologians have wrestled with the nature of sin down the decades. However, I believe that those who work with children have an important contribution to make and can have insights for the wider church about how we speak of sin to the world; this, in turn, can only serve to deepen our understanding of what Jesus accomplished for us at Easter.

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