Is sin decreasing?

A new report this week showed that “violent crime is continuing a long-term fall in England and Wales”. Data from hospital emergency departments shows a 12% fall in injuries from violent crimes, with 32,800 fewer victims than the previous year. With just one exception, violent crime has fallen every year since 2001. It’s not an isolated trend either. One expert is quoted as having said: “Violence is falling in many Western countries and we don’t know all the reasons why”.

There are a number of possible reasons. The experts link the fall in violence to declining rates of binge drinking. Disposable income has fallen as the price of alcohol has increased—and, intriguingly, the cultural attitude to alcohol among young people appears to be changing. Perhaps all those TV adverts and tedious PSHE lessons in schools spelling out the dangers of excessive drinking have proved effective.

The comments section of the article shows that readers have their own theories to explain the decrease in violent crime:

• the brutalising effect of war and poverty on previous generations;
• the increased likelihood of being caught on a mobile phone camera;
• the “geekification” of society having a pacifying affect on British males;
• a conspiracy by the Illuminati (that one always seems to sneak in there);
• or, a more likely and considerably less exciting explanation - that fewer people are reporting crime and going to hospital for treatment.

Whether this week’s statistics are accurate or not, when we compare violence in our society to the societies we encounter in the Bible, it’s hard to not see a grwoing disparity. When we read accounts of Old Testament battles and stories like the Levite slicing up his concubine “limb by limb” in Judges 19, the past seems like a foreign country to us. How can we begin relate to that? What can that brutal world possibly teach us about ourselves, living as we do in a society where violence appears to be decreasing?

Jesus tells us that while levels of violence may rise and fall, our hearts remain in the same condition; the sin underneath is the same:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Maybe physical violence has fallen, but "heart violence" remains as high as it ever was.

We can thank God that he shows common grace and uses the good gifts of education, recession and the tax system (!) to restrain violence in our society. But we are reminded that a calm surface hides a murderous heart that only the gospel of God can deal with.