Straight Shooting

Would you send someone to hell for being a lousy shot?

When I grew up, "sin" was this black, evil, heavy force that crushed your soul into the ground and eventually drug it down to hell, and only holy blood could dissolve the sin and wash it away. Sin was evil and sticky at the same time.

I didn't find out until later that "sin" means nothing of the sort. It began as Hebrew word, "het," which became a greek word, "hamartia," and finally an Old English word, "Synn."

And each time, it was an Archery term. It means to fail to hit the target, or even to fail to hit the bullseye of the target.

So the next time you're reading, try throwing in "mistake" or "weakness," instead. "Forgive us our mistakes, as we forgive those who have made mistakes against us," "the result of our weakness is death," "if we confess our mistakes, he is faithful and just to forgive us."

Personally, I'll take a God who forgives mistakes over one who cures the "Black Oil Virus" from X-files any day. After all, what's a better day out with Dad: Archery, or watching an execution?