Missing the Mark: What Sin Really Is

We often think of sin as something shameful — something moralistic and rigid. But the original meaning of the word tells a different story. Hamartia, the Greek root, means “to miss the mark.” It’s not about punishment. It’s about misalignment. About failing to become what you were meant to be — not because you were evil, but because you aimed wrong, or didn’t aim at all.

Sometimes we miss the mark because we don’t yet know what we want. Other times, we do — but we can’t bring ourselves to say it. We silence the truth to protect harmony, to avoid discomfort, to keep ourselves safe. But silence, too, can be a form of missing the mark.

The secret of life is this: to know what you want — and to ask for it.

But to know what you want, you need to really know. That takes honesty, reflection, and boldness. It means turning away from what others expect of you, and asking yourself — not once, but again and again — what is it that I truly want? That is the deeper work. You cannot ask clearly for something if you haven’t yet done the work to know what it is.

And when you do know, you must be willing to say it. Not in hints, not in strategies, not in silence — but plainly.

No one can know that you want flowers for your birthday if you didn’t say it. But if you say, “I would really love to have flowers for my birthday — it would make me happy,” then someone can give them to you. That’s the point. You can’t sit in silence hoping someone knows you well enough to read your mind. You have to speak. It is about the small things — and it’s about the big things.

Of course, asking clearly comes with risk. Courage and overstepping can sit dangerously close together. You need to be mindful of timing, of context, and of the space you’re stepping into — because the world isn’t always forgiving. There are consequences to truth. But there are also consequences to silence.

Just as important as asking is understanding that the person in front of you may not have what you’re asking for. They might be kind. They might care. But they simply might not have it to give.

Jordan Peterson writes about the tension between desire and morality, between chaos and order. He reminds us that life is full of contradictory truths, and that real growth begins when we face them head-on. Sin, then, isn’t about breaking rules. It’s about not becoming. Not speaking. Not risking.

So here’s the invitation:

Be bold enough to know what you want.

Be clear enough to ask for it.

Be gracious enough to accept the answer.

Because maybe missing the mark isn’t the end of the story. Maybe it’s how we learn to aim better next time.