The Gospel Way Catechismنموونە

QUESTION 11: What Has Gone Wrong?

ANSWER

The deepest source of misery in the world is not ignorance, injustice, or the failure to be true to ourselves. It is sin: cosmic treason against our Creator and his rule. Sin corrupts creation, wrecks relationships, and enslaves us to the Evil One.

Something is amiss in the world. Many who grapple with the big questions of life share this uneasiness. In the face of suffering, injustice, and uncertainty, we struggle to understand what has gone wrong. That something is wrong is widely accepted. Just what is wrong and why—that’s where opinions diverge.

There are many theories about what has gone wrong. Some believe the most significant source of misery lies in a lack of human knowledge. Ignorance is the culprit, and education is the solution. To combat whatever is wrong in the world, we must educate people on what is right, thus rehabilitating the mind and heart to make better choices.

Others believe the root cause of the world’s problems can be traced to large-scale injustice and oppression, such as economic inequality, racism, and environmental degradation. They look to the structures of power and the institutions that govern society as the primary perpetrators of wrongdoing in the world.

More than a few believe the world’s problems are rooted in obstacles that get in the way of people finding and being true to themselves. They think the solution is changing individual behavior and attitudes by appealing to whatever they feel deep inside, or whatever self-help practices will help them become the best version of themselves.

If you think the source of the world’s problems is ignorance, injustice, or the failure to self-actualize, you’ll think the solution is education, social activism, or self-help transformation. The Christian understanding of what’s gone wrong doesn’t deny every aspect of these approaches, but it goes much deeper. The problem is more than institutional injustice, lack of education, or personal failure. The most profound source of misery in the world is human sin—our rebellion against God and his rule (Romans 3:23-24). The consequences of that rebellion spread beyond individual suffering, leading to the world’s brokenness and corruption (Ephesians 2:1-3).

To put it another way, the source of our problem is not merely horizontal—against one another; our problem is primarily vertical—we have sinned against God. The world’s understanding of sin and suffering focuses on the horizontal perspective, seen in individual experiences or institutional failures. What’s missed is the deeper, vertical reality of our relationship with God. The Bible presents sin as cosmic treason against our Creator and his rule (Isaiah 59:2). The fallout from that disastrous rebellion is what is wrong with the world.

Sin’s consequences are many. It corrupts the whole creation, shatters relationships, and enslaves us to the Evil One. The biblical account of creation and what is often called “the fall” in the first three chapters of Genesis tells this story. God created everything and declared it good, but sin entered the world through human disobedience and rebellion against God’s rule (Genesis 3:1-19). Sin brought about brokenness, pain, and suffering in every aspect of life, including our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and the world. Sin separates us from the source of life and brings about death.

The vertical problem requires a vertical solution, and the rescue God launches is what becomes the plotline for the rest of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is the story of God’s overcoming love conquering our sin, Satan, and the world.

Reflection Questions

Are you more likely to think of sin in horizontal terms or in vertical terms? Why is it important to see all sin as ultimately against God? Reflect on the Bible’s diagnosis for what’s gone wrong with the world, and why so many of the world’s explanations for the world’s brokenness don’t go deep enough.

What are the effects of your sin on those closest to you? Contemplate the fallout for when you’ve sinned in the past. How have your relationships been affected? How have you sought to make things right with others?