Having recalled a poem that I had heard years ago, I was unable to find two citations that
rendered the verse similarly. To that end, the following offering is a culmination of what I
remembered – coupled with a careful comparison of the three citations which I was able to find
– in my efforts to correctly quote the poem. Even if the structure is slightly off, the essence is
completely intact:
Sin is a monster of such awful mien
That to be hated needs but to be seen;
But seen too oft, familiar of face
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744); English poet and critic
Though I neither know Pope, nor the backdrop of this particular block of verse, I have
read enough of his work to get a strong sense that Scripture was of some significant influence
(if not over his life then, at least, over his writings). I am not at liberty to put words in his
mouth, but will certainly take the liberty of looking at these words which have come at his
hand.
“Sin is a monster.” The reality of that is not debatable, as we can look at the outcomes
of sin from the first man, Adam, to present man, and see the painful and destructive aftermath
that sin has left in its wake. It is “of such awful mien” (demeanor or character) “that to be
hated needs but to be seen.” We have seen evidences throughout the course of human history
as to how destructive sin can be, whether in the lives of individual persons, families, or nations.
The problem is we aren’t willing to learn the lessons of others’ lives. What is up with our
insistence to try sin out for ourselves to find if it is truly destructive?
Pope goes on: “But seen too oft, familiar of face; we first endure, then pity, then
embrace.” Seeing sin at work around us can have a numbing effect. We can just see it, and
accept it, as part of the life we’re living and do absolutely nothing to eradicate its monstrous
influence over our own lives. It just begins to look normal. There’s nothing out of the ordinary
about normal, is there? When sin becomes the norm, though, we’re in for quite a storm. As
our poet friend closes out this verse, we hear the lament: “We first endure, then pity, then
embrace.” The slippery slope that he paints in this picture reminds me of a similar slope that
the Psalmist recorded in Psalm one: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the
wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers” (Psalm 1:1). There’s a
gradual demise or, as Mark Hall of Casting Crowns puts it, “a slow fade.” It doesn’t happen all
at once. It takes its numbing effect on our lives just a little bit at a time.
The challenge for us is to combat sin! We must first do that in our individual lives. In
love, we are also called to speak words of warning into the lives of others. We must be careful
that our definition of love is not relegated to approving of behaviors just because we don’t
want to hurt or offend those that we profess to love. In fact, we’re warned in the first chapter
of Romans that there is a great problem with our “loving” in this manner: “Though they know
God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but
give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).
Warring against this monster of sin, on our behalf, is Christ. In fact: “For our sake [God]
made [Christ] to be sin who know no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Furthermore, we are reminded that “to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12, ESV). Through
Christ, we can overcome this monster of sin, and all of its ill effects, and live redeemed and
radically altered lives that help to show the world that the monster does not have to win!