OPINION:
In the 1700s, Isaac Watts penned the lyrics to a hymn that has stood the test of time — a song sung throughout the ages and embraced by Anabaptists and Anglicans alike. Its meaning is rich, and its premise salvific. The title Mr. Watts gave to this anthem of the Church? “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed.” The first two stanzas, along with its subsequent chorus, are as follows:
“Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head,
For such a worm as I?”
“Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!”
“At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.”
In these few short words, Mr. Watts summarized the core message of Christianity: The burden of our heart is our sin, and the only remedy for that burden is the cross of Christ.
This has been the undisputed teaching of the Church for the past 2,000 years. So, why would any professing “conservative” Christian presume to change it?
At this point, you might, rightly, be asking, “Who has? Surely no one such as you describe has gone so far as to alter the basic essentials of The Faith?”
Well, consider Exhibit A in this week’s evangelical march to apostasy: The 2022 Annual Meeting of Southern Baptist Convention.
On June 14 and 15, nearly 9,000 voting members of the SBC met to discuss the business of what has been called the largest evangelical denomination in the United States. At this conference, many things were discussed. Leadership was chosen, and leadership was rejected. Debate ensued over budget priorities, clerical ordination and even the definition of the “pastorate.” But it is not these things (though they are not insignificant in the least) that caught the attention of many Christians around the globe. No, the one event that seemed to scream of compromise was something that didn’t even appear on the conference agenda but was, rather, inserted relatively quietly and with little fanfare into a time of communal singing. It was Isaac Watts’ hymn but with a “minor” twist.
Here’s the chorus that showed up on the Megatron in the Anaheim Convention Center:
“At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my MISTAKES (emphasis mine) rolled away…”
And there you have it. With the alteration of one simple word, the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention were apparently telling the world that the “burden of our heart” is not our sins but, rather, just our mistakes. Apparently, Jesus bled and died for our little “oopsies” and not our sins.
This is nothing short of stunning. Frankly, it is nothing short of heresy.
A simple google search of Merriam-Webster (not to mention the Bible) will quickly show that there is a critical difference between a “mistake” and a “sin.”
A mistake is an “error in judgment” or “something done unintentionally.” Examples of mistakes might be turning the wrong way onto a one-way street or pouring salt into your coffee when you thought it was sugar. Synonyms for “mistake” would be words such as misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret or misread. These are all examples of making a mistake.
A sin, on the other hand, is very different. Sin is a deliberate choice to do something you know is wrong. Sin is a volitional transgression. Sin implies intentionally stepping over a boundary when you know you shouldn’t. When you sin, it’s not accidental. You are guilty of trespassing when you see the sign telling you not to do so, and you do it anyway. Unlike a mistake, you saw the prohibition, and you didn’t care. You climbed over the fence even though you knew the property on the other side wasn’t yours. Synonyms for “sin” would be crime, iniquity, wrongdoing, evil and wickedness.
The “burden of our hearts” that Isaac Watts wrote of was not about our mistakes. He was not referring to getting the sum wrong on a math exam, turning left when the map says turn right, or sprinkling Splenda rather than salt on our eggs.
It is not for errors in human performance that our savior bled and died. The crucifixion isn’t about our minor goofs. It is about our abject sin and any church leader, whether he be Southern Baptist or otherwise, who doesn’t understand this is in serious need of a little education that the Church used to call catechesis.
“If you cannot weep over it … when you know you have done evil, you are no child of God,” said Charles Spurgeon.
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery).
Please read our comment policy before commenting.