United Methodist Beliefs: What is sin?

Video by United Methodist Communications

Do you have questions about the meaning of some of the terms and teachings of The United Methodist Church? In this episode of our Reflections on our Faith series, the Rev. Don Underwood, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas talks about sin: "In what I call the Wesleyan tradition, I prefer to think of sin as a state in which we are separated from God, whether in terms of particular things that we do or don't do."

Transcript:

Rev. Don Underwood, Christ United Methodist Church: "Occasionally somebody will ask me about what we think about sin in The United Methodist Church. And I think we have an approach that's different in what I call the Wesleyan tradition. I prefer to think of sin as a state in which we are separated from God, whether in terms of particular things that we do or don't do. When we get up in the morning and we're in relationship with God, we say, 'God, I give myself to you this day.' Then when we're in perfect relationship with God, then we tend to make decisions that are based out of love—our love for God and our love for other human beings. When we're not in good relationship with God, typically when we're not in a good relationship with ourselves, we make decisions that are based more on selfishness or self-centered concerns. And that's when we live more in a state of sin. In the Wesleyan tradition, of course, we always rely upon God's grace as the great antidote to sin or to separation from God."