By: Casey Zachary

This is a series of posts that will cover the next several weeks examining the concept of sin and moral responsibility in the mind of a Haitian. Let me preface this by saying there are many Haitian Chrisitans who truly have felt the full force of the Gospel and are strong, faithful believers, and their example is a constant companion of mine, challenging me along the way. This survey of soteriology/ hamartiology is by no means exhaustive. My intention is not to project that I have the ultimate insight on such things. Many have lived in Haiti longer than I. In many ways, I am a weak and short sighted man. However, growing up as an MK in Haiti several things perplexed me, one of which was the perpetual disconnect in evangelistic efforts in regards to how the missionary and the host culture understood the Gospel. To this end, I invested a good deal of time studying. The following is a result of the research I did. Again, I do not intend to come across as presumptuous. There are as likely as many views on sin in Haiti as there are Haitian people. I simply believe it is good to think on these things. The content of the posts will be

1) an Introduction
2) A Brief History in the Development of Religion in Haiti
3) Poor Assumptions by Missionaries
4) Understanding the General Worldview of a Haitian
5) Haitian’s Understanding of Sin and Moral Responsibility
6) Towards a Biblical View of Sin and Moral Responsibility
7) Essential Shifts in the Haitian Worldview

While there are valuable lessons a believer can learn from the Haitian worldview in terms of an increased significance of community, these truths cannot take the foreground but must remain in the background. The foreground that must emerge is an understanding of a biblical account of personal moral responsibility for the transgression of one’s sins. To this end, missionaries and church leaders must challenge the theological conclusions rural Haitians have concerning sin. To accurately object to these non-biblical views of sin and responsibility for sin, missionaries must make fewer assumptions and increasingly devote themselves to the arduous task of understanding the rural Haitian’s worldview in order to avoid syncretism and produce Christians who demonstrate spiritual maturity.

There is a noticeable absence from the biblical concept of total depravity/ sin nature in the rural Haitian’s worldview. This is not exclusive to the Haitian as the majority of nonbelievers throughout the world would not hold to such a view. However, Scripture states these are both important concepts in a Christian’s understanding of sin and its effects on a person’s life. Scripture teaches that each human is in need of salvation from the condemnation of sin and the judgment of God that leads to physical/ spiritual death, hell, and everlasting separation from God (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15). Sin places unforgiven humans at enmity with God and renders them totally depraved. Because of this hostility, a human does not have any hope to save him/herself or change the condition of his/her relationship with God volitionally (Romans 8:1-7). God mercifully supplies a means by which the human’s status before God is able to change (thus providing salvation) through the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). God generously offers the sinful human salvation as an expression of his love and as a means by which to bring himself glory (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:6, 12).

Those who are among God’s elect will enjoy union with Christ as a result of his vicarious and substitutionary death (Romans 6).  This provides salvation as his death satisfied God’s righteous judgment against human sin once and for all (Hebrews 7:27) in that Christ became the propitiation for humanity’s sin (1 John 4:10), enabling God to forgive the individual sinner (Acts 2:38). His death accomplished the redemption of the sinner and made it possible for them to be free from their enslavement to sin (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25). His death and resurrection dealt a final blow to power of sin, resulting in making it possible to reconcile sinners and restore the broken relationship between God and the sinner (2 Corinthians 5:19). The work of Christ offers sinners the opportunity to be justified and declared righteous (Galatians 2:26), enter into the process of sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:11), be adopted as sons/ daughters (Romans 8:14-15), and have the hope of glorification (Romans 8:30).