Signature Sins–A book Review

 

Every so often a book comes along that I think I should read twice. Signature Sins;Taming Our Wayward Hearts by Michael Mangis in one of those books.

Mangis is a psychologist by training, but he seems also to be a gifted theologian. In this book he maps the human heart in ways that are both clear and helpful.

He starts by listing and defining what the Western Church has come to know as the seven deadly sins:lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger, envy and pride. He says “Within these seven basic categories of sin the human heart has the astounding capacity to produce an infinite number of variations.”  What I found helpful is that he defines these sins in such a clear but nuanced way that it is easy to see what they are and how they reside in our own hearts.

For instance in talking about pride Mangis says, “Pride wants to put God on trial…the elemental struggle of pride(is): submitting to God’s definition of reality rather than our own.” Then he goes on to nuance it by talking about the outward manifestation of pride which shows up in “arrogant, haughty and snobbish manners” and ends up in inappropriate narcissism, and the inward manifestation of pride which “leads a person to be obsessed with other and how they feel about him or her. This person is self-focused.”

Mangis walks through all the deadly sins in this way. These definitions of sin are helpful to anyone looking to diagnosis their own heart, or those who have another’s permission to walk into their heart with the object of helping them live well.

Mangis then goes on to postulate that each person has a primary “signature sin.” Mangis says “the essence of a signature sin, the sin that clings so closely. We come to view it as part of ourselves.” It is hard to separate our signature sin from our identity. We may have a primary and a few secondary signature sins.

Now it would be very easy for someone to write a book like this that is guilt inducing. However, I found his writing liberally seasoned with grace. I also found some of the clearest thinking I have read on how our personalities affect our sinful tendencies. He also notes that culture and ethnicity and gender can move us toward particular sins. He even addresses the biology of sin and mental illness and sin.

Mangis is not content to point out sin. He wants to offer an antidote to our sinful patterns. He is perfectly orthodox when it comes to the cross or Christ. But while forgiveness is immediate changing our wayward hearts takes time. Often these patterns that have been engraved in our heart for a long time and they cause pain. He suggest that there is little we can do to change, but there are ways of cooperating with God for change.

He suggests that after confessing our sins, we need to pray into and take on the spiritual discipline that is in direct opposition to our sin. He acknowledges that this takes discernment. But he gives pointers to make this discernment easier. He talks about community and spiritual rhythms. He calls us to be who we were made to be in Christ.

I love the fact that he does not give easy answers. This is not a formulaic book, where is I do A + B I will get C. But he does give ways to approach our wayward hearts.

Mangis uses scripture and the tradition of the church while not ignoring the contributions of psychology to map the human heart. This book is one of the better books I have read on the nuts and bolts of spiritual formation.