“We are going to use the word machigae間違え(mistake) instead  of ‘sin’,” Rod Plummer of the Tokyo-based Jesus Lifehouse Church told his congregation recently. “Most Japanese when they hear the word ‘sin’ think of crimes, major crimes, rather that the things we do, the words we say and the thoughts we have every day.”

The lively, Hillsong-style Tokyo Jesus Lifehouse church is taking part in a new translation of the Bible into Japanese, because they believe the complicated language makes it hard for young people in Japan to understand the Bible’s message.

“We want to get rid of every obstacle that gets in the way of the good news,” says Plummer.

Plummer—a former Toowomba resident in Queensland who has planted a series of churches in Asia—is trying to correct Japanese thinking that makes each “Sin” too large, indemnifying it as “Crimes” which takes sin away from most people’s daily experience.

This reminds me of another innovative use of language in evangelism—the idea of “declaring autonomy” is used in the Introducing God evangelistic videos to describe sin as an act of rebellion against God. Presenter Dominic Steele, from Village Church Sydney, uses the example of WA farmer, the self-styled Prince Leonard Hutt, who has declared his farm an independent principality. Introducing God will launch its second edition later in 2014. It will be interesting to see if Leonard Hutt is still there. He is such a great example.

Steele is correcting the Australian thinking of sin as a series of small acts rather than the state of rejecting God.

Both these gospel presenters—who may be unaware of each other’s work—avoid the religious language of “sin”, recasting it in imaginative ways that present the logic of the gospel. Neither of them are attempting to water things down in avoiding the word “sin” in their teaching, especially to established Christians. Plummer is making it clear that everyone has “sins” in their lives, not just criminals. Steele is making it clear that the real problem is our relationship with God.

The old English word “synn” simply means “guilty”. Harmartia, the Greek word translated as “sin” in the New Testament was used by Aristotle to describe how an “error of judgement” undid a tragic hero.

Its meanings also include:

  to miss the mark

  to err, be mistaken

  to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong

  to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin

Both of the evangelistic examples use words that lie within the range of meaning of Harmartia.

Some Christians will be nervous about not using the word “sin” in some instances. Being conservative in our use of language is commendable. But language should be open to testing. It is a good idea to take a word we use all the time and see if we can actually explain what it means—or test to see if something else is clearer.

In Britain, a new experimental baptism service for the Church of England leaves out both sin and the devil. The current text reads: “Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God? Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil? Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour? Do you turn to Christ as Saviour? Do you submit to Christ as Lord?” The alternative text asks: “Do you reject evil? And all its many forms? And all its empty promises? Do you turn to Christ? And put your trust in him?”

Leaving out the word “sin” appears not to be a real problem, although it grabbed headlines in the UK. Using “the language of East enders (inner city London) rather than the language of Shakespeare” caused a lot of comment. But “evil” may well be a stronger word than “sin” in the UK.

Losing the longer descriptions of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour would be more of an issue for me.