It's not fair, I really shouldn't say...

I was reading an article on a Christian apologetics website this week that got me a little annoyed. The contents suggested that there are different types of sin, and that some sin is worse than others. I really struggle with the idea that people make decisions about degrees of righteousness because it suggests a type of ‘pecking-order’ that I do not read in scripture.

In my blog two weeks ago titled 'Moving forward in faith', I revisited the topic of sexual sin where one could argue that it isn't the action that is to be challenged but the mind-set. If one is so consumed by graphic images and forms of sexual activity that are not Godly and in which you have placed considerable attention, then it becomes a sin due to the attention you give to it, rather than to God. Essentially, if our attention is drawn to anything more than that which God intended sex for… after all, he did create it; then we would have created an idol out of sex.

 

It is obvious in terms of how we punish people in law that murder is of a far greater consequence than speeding in a restricted zone. The reason why you can be fined for speeding is because of the danger to others that is created as a result of your actions. There is the potential to commit manslaughter each time you get in your car and fail to give it your full attention. The difference between the two is the level of intention that the person displays in their conduct.

 

 

Just this week I sat in a line of traffic that had to give priority to people travelling from our right-hand-side at a roundabout. The driver who was being given priority at the roundabout wasn't moving, and so the motorists in my lane were being cautious and a little hesitant as they pulled away from the junction. When it was my turn to go, I could clearly see the man had his mobile phone up to his ear. He could not pilot the car around the roundabout because he had only one hand free to operate the manual gearbox and steer the car in the direction of travel. So he sat there, putting each other driver in jeopardy whilst he finished his conversation.

Now was this a little sin or could it have been more serious? For the driver, the immediacy of the phone call was far greater than the safety of others. I was turning right across the flow of traffic so the traffic in the opposite carriageway, equally distracted by the man’s actions, could have become frustrated and may not have noticed my own manoeuvre, resulting in a side impact. This man’s actions added a layer of risk and stress on all the other drivers for that moment in time… no wonder we have road rage incidents.

For this simple reason, I believe we cannot have levels of sin. Doing something we shouldn't do is clearly wrong, despite the consequences and not because of the consequences. However we each determine how much of the ‘grey area’ we are prepared to accept. We punish people who do not live up to these standards by administering a level of justice that is consummate with the deed done. Murder is a custodial sentence that is generally in the UK approximately 30 years. A fine for not having vehicle insurance is £250 and 8 –penalty points on your drivers licence in the UK, far cheaper than the cost of insurance. Some people calculate the risk of getting caught against the fine they are given, and are willing to take the risk with avoiding insurance due to the cost of quotations for young people being approximately £1800.

The idea of different punishments for different levels of crime and disorder stems in the UK from historical influences. We learn from Jewish practices regarding ritual cleansing for the preparation of worship and our responsibility towards each other within civilised society. England adopted our current practices as the country emerged from a primitive pagan culture that was first ravaged by Viking raids and through the bureaucracy of the occupation by the Roman Empire.

With the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity, and the moral guidance of St Augustine’s missionary trip to bring the Gospel to the Island nation, we adopted in the law of the land, many of the laws that honoured God, through the developments of the heraldic monarchy and social change. In the UK, Many secular commentators now question the role of the church within government and campaign to separate the church from the state.

In the Old Testament, Moses sat in judgement over all of the people, interpreting God’s law so that people would deal fairly with each other and show God in their dealings with one another. Perhaps as a result of what Moses was advised to organise by his father-in-law Jethro, that today there are so many laws and clauses that determine the way that we interrelate with each other that we use the phrase ‘drowning in a sea of red tape!’

 

The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?” Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarrelling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.” “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.

 

Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives. But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.”

(Exodus 18:14-23)

 

One of my bug-bears is cycling on the pavement. I was brought up in the 70’s and 80’s when cycling on the pavement was forbidden. As a young cyclist I have lost count of the amount of times that I was cautioned by police for cycling on the pavement or along a footpath. The irony being that these footpaths are now cycle lanes in our towns! I am not talking about the obvious transport routes in out towns but the built up areas where adults who should know better, cycle into shopping areas and bash into pedestrians, or expect you to move out of their way for them  to pass by, where they are clearly breaking the law.

I can remember one incident in the City of York where I was stopped by a policeman when I made a right turn close to the Minster. I knew that motorised vehicles were prohibited from making a right turn at the junction, but there was a little blue sign that stated ‘Except for Bicycle’s’. The policeman who stopped me had never seen this sign as I pointed it out to him, which put us both in an awkward position as he didn't know whether to apologise, and I was uncertain whether I could carry on.

 

Today, it seems that in the UK you can cycle on any pavemen because the law is now so unworkable and the law it isn't enforced; until something happens as recently, an older resident was knocked over by a cyclist close to Southend Pier, dislocating her hip. Now local politicians are calling for a ban on riding on the pavement in these crowded areas, when in fact they should enforce the law that already exists.

 

I think it is this kind of reasoning that people use regarding the sins we see committed in both Christians and non-Christians, and where some argue that some sin is greater than others. We seem to have a need to see justice being met out in the actions and behaviours of others. Like eating a great banquet where we have different courses requiring a wide range of cutlery, we learn to eat starting with the outer cutlery, and moving to the inner… we used to call it etiquette. The ability of those with social standing to understand the protocols needed to eating these meals in the correct sequence without making mistakes, compared to the working class person, is a topic of many movies and comedy sketches.

 

So when we see a Christian doing something that breaks the rules, we can become irritated by their apparent ignorance of what they have done. This is particularly so if you have had to deal with that particular sin in your life too, or if you have been challenged to reform your behaviour. We can wear this bitterness like a badge of honour, believing we have a cause-to-live-for and drawing like-minded people in. At worst we can turn into petty minded gossips that delight in another person’s failure as though they are second class Christians and we are somewhat superior… RUBBISH!

 

 

Some feel that our sin is like the complexity of life as described by SHREK; that he saw himself as being like an onion… being many layered – peel back the outer layers to find multiple layers that need unravelling to get to the true person inside. Christians can give an impression that we deal with the outer layers when we give our lives to Jesus, as this is the more obvious sin, and that this is evidence of our change of heart. As disciples, we learn that buried within our layers, we have hidden sin that emerges as Jesus shines his light into the dark corners of our hearts. We then learn that this process is not a one-shot activity, but one of continual renewal.

 

We learn to live a lifetime of surrendering our will to his glorious light. So if we have sin that is greater than others, does it mean that that the one who has been saved from this greater sin has been forgiven more? This would be a ludicrous proposal… ‘Yeah, I didn't need as much grace to be saved because I was already pretty good.’ Jesus talks about the woman who anoints him extravagantly with an expensive fragrant oil in Luke 7:41 "I tell you, her sins-and they are many-have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love."

It is foolish to think that we have been forgiven a little bit! We have ALL been forgiven much and continue to fall short again and again. Jesus saw the sin of the people and dealt with it there where they stood… the Samaritan woman at the well; Jesus gently reminds her that she had had a number of husbands and even the man she was now with was not her husband… AND YET he offers her the ‘living water of life’ as she stood in front of him – standing in her sin (John 4).

 

I used to struggle with my understanding of forgiveness because I hadn't intentionally gone out and committed what I might have perceived to be a ‘big’ sin. For years, I used to feel that I didn't know how to receive God’s love because I felt that I hadn't been forgiven for so much… that my heart wasn't broken like those of others whom God appeared to generously bless. I felt that had I known how it felt to be forgiven, that I would experience the fullness of God. In reality, I felt I was being short-changed by God. I was so desperate for the experience of God that I lost sight of the basic truth… In my weakness, then he will be strong. Just as the woman at the well, recognised her need for a saviour, I needed to recognise once again that I am a sinner and put my trust in an awesome God who forgives me IN SPITE of the depths that my sin takes me.

I need to be transformed by the renewal of my body, mind and my spirit; to be born again into his glorious light. As I am now a disciple of Jesus and now involved in a process of transformation, I need to guard my body, mind and spirit against the human nature that Jesus has redeemed. We are in a spiritual battle and the devil is very keen to prevent us from following where God leads us. If we have not changed through the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we are rarely going to be troubled by the devil’s schemes.

 

However those of us, who want to walk the narrow way of the pilgrim, will encounter many trials along the way. I read John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrims Progress’ when I was about 14, where the story a man reading the Bible is convicted of his sin and embarks on a journey through his life with God. The story was written in 1678, yet the characters in it are as real today as those in the works of Shakespeare’s plays.

 

The pilgrim encounters all sorts of distraction on his journey, which you can read for yourself, but the one thing that he keeps returning to is the clothing he is wearing and a scroll on which is written his name – his invitation as an heir to the kingdom of God. As the pilgrim in the story, we also need to hold onto the promises that God has given to us; so that we remain anchored into his love and grace. As soon as we think we are worthy to live our lives in the confidence of our own achievement, we are on very shaky ground.

We need to be careful therefore of the impression we give to an increasingly secular society, about the role we think we ought to have in determining the moral focus for the culture we are in. In the past we have assumed the moral high ground due to the association between the church and the state, sitting in a position of authority over others we deem not understand their own nature. Unfortunately, we have all sat in meetings where we have heard judgemental statements being made on the nature of humanity and the degree of sin the church finds the world to have slipped into. We tend to start our arguments for change for the betterment of society from the wrong tack, believing that because we are contrary to society, we are doing Gods will.

‘Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.’

 (Romans 12:2)

 

Paul is encouraging his fellow Romans in this verse to emulate God rather than the pagan Roman Society they were immersed in. What he isn't saying is ‘Thou Shalt Not’ but rather, ‘let God transform you.’ Yes Paul outlines behaviours throughout his letters that are ungodly, but his purpose was to encourage the early Christians to respond to God’s grace at work in their lives. God’s Spirit illuminates their old lives and the sin contained within it, creating further opportunities for them to demonstrate their love of God by surrendering to his will.

 

It is God’s love for us that unlocks our potential to live selfless lives, and not a legalistic set of behaviours or code of conduct that are imposed from those seemingly more righteous than ourselves. From this type of background we will always find evidence of the ‘older brother’ syndrome from the prodigal son story. I was that older brother for a very long time. Jesus captured my heart when I was 11 years old and in so doing, I was protected from the excesses of life. I felt that I had lived a righteous life by honouring God through my quiet time, my worship, my service in the church and my endurance in withstanding sin.

 

I survived like this within my own strength for far too long and it ruined my love for Jesus and turned me into a legalistic Christian with narrow views on the life choices that people make. I was joyless and trapped in my arrogance and hidden pride in my ability to live independently of the broken home context from which God had rescued me. When I got to university, I encountered for the very first time, worship music. The year was 1989 and I was desperately searching for fulfilment in my faith life and in my personal life. I lacked having any form of intimacy and any real sense of relational connection with my peers because I hadn’t got the toolbox to relate to life outside of the cocoon of the parallel institutions of education and the church.

 

One Sunday evening I visited a church called St Michael le Belfry in the shadow of York Minster. I went with some college friends who had visited before me, and gave it a great review. Simply known as the 8pm service, I was immersed into the life of the Holy Spirit through the songs we sang that night. Here we were sat in 16^th Century box-pews, worshipping my God who never changes... it was only me who had moved. It took many months of worship and prayer and the gradual peeling back of my ‘onion’ layers by my heavenly father who just ran out to me and hugged me.

 

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

(Romans 12:2)

 

Paul highlights here that it is Jesus who transforms his mind so that he does not sin; yet his body is still sinful and so he is in a tussle between his faithful obedience to God and his nature. So we return to my opening statement about my annoyance with our Christian culture that assumes some sin is in need of a greater punishment or greater desire for forgiveness or restoration. One such verse used is the conversation that Jesus has with Pontius Pilate in John 19:11

 

Then Jesus said, "You would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above; so the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin."

 

What Jesus is saying to Pilate here is that it was God who commissioned his death. Indeed the Father, Son and the Spirit together, set up the events leading to this confrontation. Jesus was accused by the temple priests, the Sanhedrin, of committing blasphemy and heresy but both King Herod who represented the civil government of the occupied Jewish nation and the Roman law represented by Pilate could find no fault with him. Jesus is pointing out that a higher judgement is at work here, more powerful than the Roman emperor whose authority Pilate represented and higher than the law contained with the temple. The implication being that the very people who had offered Jesus up for sentencing and punishment had committed a bigger crime than the one performing the sentencing.

I do not see in this text a hierarchy of sin, but only one sin. Namely that in our self-righteousness and pride in what we believe we know of God, we have missed the very heart of God at work in this world. We are so un-deserving of God’s grace and so blinded by our own arrogance that it is no wonder that those who listen to church leaders telling them how they should be living their lives, do not hear the greatest command that Jesus gives his followers, to love one another:

 

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

(John 13:34-35)

In love, when someone in faced with their sin, may-be for the first time, they know that it has always been there, yet had somehow been able to ignore it. We can struggle to let go of the things that bind us into our lifestyle, and we can struggle against God as he purifies us. If we were to wait until we had sorted out all of this stuff before we became useful in the body of Christ, we would never sign-up. It has never been about us – always about Jesus. When we stubbornly refuse to surrender our will to his, then we are then in danger of returning to the place that God has already cleaned up.

 

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

(Matthew 12:43-45)

This quotation of Jesus deals with evil spirits that have been cast out directly from people as described throughout the Gospel stories, but it can also be read-into with regard to our sin. Sin is man’s rebellion from God. We were designed to honour God with our bodies, our minds, our creativity, and in our interactions with the world. We have an understanding of right and wrong whether we choose to believe it to be God given or not.

 

Some rules of conduct are reinforced through our up-bringing and through our involvement with civil life, and ultimately we could come face-to-face with the full force of the law through the courts. We have acquired such a sense of justice that when we see sentencing for crimes, we voice our opinions over the severity of the punishment and the leniency of the sentence. So why not then, might there be a source for this natural law?

 

I am always asked what I think about the day of judgement; the time where we will meet with God face to face and account for our lives. I always tend to answer the question in this way: ‘Do you believe that God is love? Do you believe that his Son Jesus’ death was an expression of that love in order that we might be saved? Do you think that God ration’s his grace and some may not have opportunity to repent?’ Then I always point to the cross. On it, Jesus was asked by a man who had been judged by human law to have sinned, whether he would honour a very simple and honest request.

 

The man could see that Jesus should not have been hanging on that cross; especially so when he compared his own life with the reputation of the man he saw hung next to him. In that moment of surrender where the man could not escape the consequences of his life, he turned to the one who could… ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus’ glorious response is simple and clear: ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

(Luke 23:39-43)

 

This gift is offered freely to everyone when we recognise the risen Jesus; it sends a shiver of joy down my spine as I remember what God has saved me from and I echo Paul’s sentiment in Ephesians as I write this. That God in his great mercy would save a man such as me:

 

All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

(Ephesians 2:3-5)

  

There is only one warning about sin that stands out to me from those that try to rank sin in terms of good and bad, and that is the sin of those who BELIEVE. When you look at all of the texts used to suggest that sin isn't equal, they are aimed purely at the Christian who becomes lukewarm in their faith. Having an awareness that we are sinners and then continuing to repeat that pattern of sin, is considered worse than those who are ignorant of their sin. Making a choice to ignore sin in our lives is to repeatedly put Christ back on the cross and deny his redeeming work fulfilled on it:

 

When people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.

(2 Peter 2:20-21)

 

As the church we need to re-connect with the society we seek to save through revealing the love of Jesus, rather than pointing out their sins and heaping damnation on them for not repenting. The Jesus I know is gentle in his discipline and gives me space to accept my failings within a ministry of love and empowerment. He wants to loose me from the shackles of my habitual sin that is swayed by the culture we live in as well as being governed by the state of my emotion, so that I may be effective in serving him. No one wants to be told off and be bullied into the Kingdom for fear of death, although it does work for some… as human beings we don’t like to be told this stuff! But in Jesus, like the thief on the cross, I can see God, who dissolves my arrogant pretensions to being any good, because I see the love poured out so freely through his shed blood.

 

Let us together find a fresh way to reach people with the love of God that leads to repentance and faith; and in so doing, disciple them in the teachings of Christ so that they may never doubt the truth of their salvation again.