Sin (3) Missing the Mark

The word most commonly used for sin in the New Testament is “armartia”, which means “missing the mark”. This is not deliberate disobedience. It is not choosing to do evil on purpose. It is failure to achieve an intended goal.

When an archer misses the mark, they are not deliberately trying to miss the target. The reverse is true. They are actually trying to hit the bull’s eye, but a crosswind, damage to the arrow, or a nervous twitch when it is being released, causes the arrow to miss. The important thing is that the archer was not trying to miss the target; they were trying hard to hit it.

So applying this to our personal lives, “missing the mark” is a failure to achieve the standard we are aspiring to achieve. We are trying to do what is right, but for some reason get it wrong. Like the archer, the reason that we miss the mark might be something beyond our control, like the sudden gust of wind that blows the arrow off target. Sometimes we fail to obey God because the spiritual powers of evil have buffeted us, and caused us to fall.

Part of Jesus' gospel was explaining to people that they were not free, but were trapped by the kingdom of darkness. In Jesus’ parable about a sower, some of the good seed is trampled on the roadside or snatched away by the birds. In the same way, humans have been trapped under the control of the spiritual powers of evil, which prevents them from following God even if they want to. Many humans miss the mark because they are attacked and controlled by spiritual evil, even if they wanted to serve God when they were young. Others reject him because they are put off by the hurts of people who claimed to be working for God.

Missing the mark is not deliberate rebellion against God. It is seeking to live in his way, but failing because the pressures were too great. It is considerably milder than extreme depravity.

Several other words used for sin in the New Testament also indicate weakness rather than deliberately choosing evil.

• parakouo is failure to listen to God.
• asbeno signifies weakness/feebleness.
• agnoeo refers to sin as springing from ignorance as well as the resulting blindness to spiritual truth.
• hettao views sin as a defeat.

A stronger word than missing the mark” is “parabaino”. It means to “go past, or “transgress”, but Jesus only used it for the Pharisees breaking the law.