How to think like a Christian about sin and sinning

Life is complicated. There are so many ideas, philosophies and temptations thrown at us all the time. It is no wonder that many Christians fall into sin at various points. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We gossip. We use pornography. We use illegal drugs. We have extra-marital sex. We lust. We envy. (If I have not included your particular sin, please feel free to include it now.) The point is we are bad. We are nasty. We sin!!

So why is it that we Christians are so quick to judge someone else? Why are we so willing to point our fingers at someone else’s sin?

Maybe it makes us feel better. We can point out how someone else has failed so that our sin does not seem so bad. We can emphasize our neighbor’s abortion while justifying our own apathy toward the genocide in Darfur. I cannot feel too awful about my sin while I am castigating someone else for their’s.

Maybe while I am pointing at someone else, no one will notice that I have sin. It is a diversion tactic. If I make a stink about the sexual sins of my homosexual co-worker, perhaps no one will notice my flirtations with my best friend’s wife. If I can make another person’s sexual sin worse than mine, no one will care anyway.

But isn’t that all wrong. There is nothing in the Bible that would make me think that one sin is worse than another. When we say that divorce, or abortion, or homosexuality (interesting that these are all sex-related sins) is worse than our disregard for the homeless, the hurting or the hungry, we do a disservice to the gospel of grace.

I believe that all sins are sins. I refuse to go soft on homosexual practice, abortion or divorce. But at the same time, I refuse to believe that any of these should occupy more of my time or energy than workplace gossip. It is impossible, in biblical or Christian terms, to justify any sin. It does not matter how ‘serious’ or ‘minor.’

Finally, let me say something about sinners. I am one. You are one as well. The Bible teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3.10, 23). But, God’s Word also teaches that all people are loved by God (John 3.16). You see, there is no sin that is so great that God cannot and will not forgive it.

So what should we do? First of all, let us renew our commitment to God’s holiness in our own lives. Whatever tempts you the most, offer it to God. Do not allow it any place in your life any more. Let us turn from sinning. Secondly, let us continue to speak out and stand up against all sin. If gossip is sin, then we must not tolerate it in our lives. And finally, we must love the people that Jesus loves. It is too easy to demonize those people who are in sin. I must remember that Jesus loves them just as much as he loves me. We must love all people. We must love sinners while hating sin.