‘Hey, Knucklehead’

Both sins and mistakes cause trouble. But a mistake is usually unintentional, whereas sin is a conscious act – intentional wrongdoing.

Mistakes can be corrected by knowledge or discernment. Sin, however, is eradicated by recognizing that our motives and actions were wrong and refusing to think or act in the same unloving, harmful, or self-destructive way. Several Bible accounts depict Jesus healing by exposing and destroying sin.

I learned an important lesson regarding the difference between a mistake and a sin a number of years ago when God caught my attention with the words, “Hey, Knucklehead.”

I was living in a peaceful neighborhood near a university when fraternity members moved in nearby. One night, they had a very noisy party. I tried to pray, but mostly grumbled as I tossed and turned.

Around four in the morning, I walked over to their back porch, turned off the music as they slept, then unplugged the still-blaring TV and carried it to my house. I got the peace and quiet I wanted, but as I was about to fall asleep, I heard “Hey, Knucklehead, get up! You stole your neighbor’s TV. You broke God’s Commandment!”

While God sees His children as the pure reflection of His perfection, this truth manifests itself in ways we can understand. Sometimes it feels like a mighty rebuke, even though God’s messages are benign. The contrast between the pure goodness of God and that which is not expressive of it can be jolting.

Humbled, I returned the TV and came home, transformed. I’d believed I was a victim of another’s self-indulgence, but I realized that I had sinned. I had selfishly indulged in a false sense that God’s children could be a disturbance and that I was justified in taking matters into my own hands. I saw that, instead, I had to do my part to see everyone (including myself) as God has created us. Even though I’d felt wronged, I couldn’t engage in sinful thinking or acts that left Spirit, God, out of the picture.

After that, the nearby house became quieter. No other party disturbed me while I lived in that area.

Sin includes thinking of ourselves and others as mortal, flawed, and inclined to err, when in reality Spirit made us spiritual, immortal, and wholly good. A mortal way of thinking causes us to live in small, limited, zero-sum ways. It accepts God as less than good and ever-present and as incapable of caring for our needs. Essentially, sin is thinking and acting in a self-centered, destructive, or unloving way.

Though sin isn’t the same as a mistake, both are wrong. The more we understand Spirit and our true nature, the fewer mistakes we’ll make and the greater dominion we’ll have over temptation.

This requires honest self-examination, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in an address. She added, “Even a mild mistake must be seen as a mistake, in order to be corrected; how much more, then, should one’s sins be seen and repented of, before they can be reduced to their native nothingness!” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 109).

Where do we begin in the effort to overcome sin? Human will cannot do it. Christ, Truth, the divine idea of God demonstrated so completely by Jesus, empowers it. First, we must know what we really are: the spiritual offspring or self-expression of Spirit, made to reflect divine goodness and grace. Second, we must recognize the weaknesses and sins that we have been accepting as a part of our nature.

Then we can prayerfully reason with the truth to remove these aggressive lies and be redeemed from past mistakes. God, speaking through a faithful prophet, yet directly to each of us, stated, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18, 19, New International Version).

We express God, divine Mind, as Mind’s conscious, holy, spiritual ideas, and so are able to recognize mistakes and sinful temptations quickly, correct them, and boldly and safely move on. Instead of acting like knuckleheads, we can accept our spiritual selfhood and live freely without fear and disappointment.

Since that night all those years ago, I’m usually quicker at utilizing spiritual might over temptations to indulge in selfish, sinful thoughts. I have striven to see everyone as God-made – and therefore spiritual, loved and loving, wise and considerate – and to know that we can all act accordingly. Through prayer, we allow Christ to dissolve sin, correct mistakes, and reveal the freedom and joy of spiritual being.

Adapted from an editorial published in the Feb. 5, 2024, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.