Greek Word for Sin: Missed the Mark

First Presbyterian Church of Southold runs a Vacation Bible School each year and it is an amazingly creative endeavor directed by Kathy, a talented, smart and deeply spiritual young woman. The theme this year is On the High Seas and it uses stories from the Acts of the Apostles, a Bible book that reads partly like an adventure story. Having seen what past Vacation Bible Schools did, I did not want to miss out on the fun this year so I volunteered to help.

Kathy asked me if I could figure out a way to incorporate pirates into the finales for each day’s lessons. In the finales, all the “crews” i.e. age groups, come together to sum up the lesson learned that day, sing some songs, and have some fun together. She gave me the lesson plans and I worked my way quickly through the first three days which deal with exciting stories of ship wrecks, and snake bites, and prison escapes. The fourth day got really serious though and I was stopped dead in my tracks. It was about the death and resurrection of Christ and spoke of sin. I have a real issue with this. I was scared to death as a child over the concept of sin and I didn’t want to do the same to any kids now. I appreciated that it was important that the kids get the lesson of Christ dying for our sins, but still, it terrified me. I saw no way to bring pirates, the crucifixion and resurrection and fun times at Bible school together. Oh, me of little faith.


For Southold’s 4th of July Parade, Kathy drove the truck pulling the Pirate Ship owned by Maritime Pirates, a street drama group that conducts shows and summer camps. They had offered to do a cameo performance for our Vacation Bible School and were loaning us costumes and training us a bit in pirate lore and behavior. When their truck broke down, Kathy offered to reciprocate their generosity by helping them in the parade. While driving in the truck with her, I shared my concern about Lesson 4. Later that night, she wrote to me and here is what she said?


The greek word for "sin" means "missed the mark." What is the mark? The mark is LOVE. If X marks the spot (LOVE) whenever we miss the mark, that is sin. And we miss the mark often! God knows that! God has made the way for us to keep moving ahead toward the mark, toward the treasure.....LOVE! Unfortunately, many of us were brought up to think of sin as a great evil -- the word alone makes us feel like murderers or something. I'd love to change that image. We missed the mark, that's all.

So, there it is. Lesson 4: A treasure map with a X marking the spot. We pirates will try to hit the mark and if we don’t. it’s ok. We can just keep trying!

I am in awe of her message and so I have to pass it on to all of you who perhaps have not yet hit the mark when it comes to Help Healing Happen. All that is asked is that you love a bit more and help our doctors help others. It’s not a sin if you don’t, but it’s found treasure if you do.