Excuse me. I'm about to commit a faux pas. I'm introducing an issue of Leadership on a topic that virtually everyone will have a problem with—sins.

For some, the very concept is hopelessly out of fashion, an anachronism. For others, it's too negative or theologically troubling.

Today many in the church prefer to use other terms—"brokenness" or "alienation" or "imperfections." These are helpful words in some ways, but they can also have the unintended effect of suggesting that we are victims, that our condition was inflicted upon us, that we really aren't to blame.

Yet Jesus' response is the repeated command, "Repent" (literally, "Turn!") and "sin no more." Why would he tell us broken, alienated, imperfect people to repent of something beyond our control or turn from something we can't escape?

Other Christians, especially those in churches that emphasize the importance of conversion, still use the ...