Sin
An interesting conversation has been running through my mind over the past week. A conversation that I had with a friend last week about sin.
What is sin?
According to my friend and I, sin is relative to us as humans. One man's sin is another man's enjoyment. Take my church, we believe that smoking and drinking are wrong and sinful. And yes, so do I, believe that our bodies are God's temple, where his Spirit lives in us. We should not contaminate our bodies with such vile elements.
But as a church we choose to ignore that fact that a good percentage of our leaders are extremely overweight. Is not gluttony a sin? We eat at fast food restaurants, we are constantly on the go and need to get food fast.
What about our day of rest? As pastors are we enjoying the day of rest that God provided? Life as a pastor is extremely busy. We need a Sunday, whether it is on Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday does not matter.
So is sin relative? Of course it is to us finite humans. It is in our DNA to make judgements about one sin and praises of another(because we enjoy edulging ourselves).
But to God, sin is a sin. No excuses. God loves us and has put these safeguards in for a reason. For myself, I choose to call sins, "safeguards" put in place by God. If we sin, we are no longer safe.
We need to be careful how we judge one another according to each other's sins.
Get the 2x4 out of your eye. (paraphrase of Matthew 7:3b)
What is sin?
According to my friend and I, sin is relative to us as humans. One man's sin is another man's enjoyment. Take my church, we believe that smoking and drinking are wrong and sinful. And yes, so do I, believe that our bodies are God's temple, where his Spirit lives in us. We should not contaminate our bodies with such vile elements.
But as a church we choose to ignore that fact that a good percentage of our leaders are extremely overweight. Is not gluttony a sin? We eat at fast food restaurants, we are constantly on the go and need to get food fast.
What about our day of rest? As pastors are we enjoying the day of rest that God provided? Life as a pastor is extremely busy. We need a Sunday, whether it is on Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday does not matter.
So is sin relative? Of course it is to us finite humans. It is in our DNA to make judgements about one sin and praises of another(because we enjoy edulging ourselves).
But to God, sin is a sin. No excuses. God loves us and has put these safeguards in for a reason. For myself, I choose to call sins, "safeguards" put in place by God. If we sin, we are no longer safe.
We need to be careful how we judge one another according to each other's sins.
Get the 2x4 out of your eye. (paraphrase of Matthew 7:3b)
This entry was posted
on Friday, May 13, 2005 at 12:05 AM.
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To God sin is sin, but to us as humnas sin is not always sin.
Yes and no!
An example of the gray areas.. for a Salvationist to take a drink is considered a sin, or rather a sinful practice. However, a more Biblical view is probably one of moderation.
For a staunch Salvationist to have succumbed to the temptation to have a drink might cause conviction, remorse and a request for forgiveness. Has he (or she) truly sinned? I think there is scripture that indicates that they have indeed sinned, especially if in their heart they believe they have sinned, yet do not ask for forgiveness.. in a rebelious spirit.
Nope, not what I said. I agree with you that "body is the temple" aside, there is no commandment(s) against use of tobacco or alcohol.
What I was getting at was that for some in our denomination (Salvation Army), the long time practice of abstinence has created the perception of sin in this area.
Moreover, I was referring to scripture which indicates that if someone believes they have sinned in their heart (though others may not feel what they have done was a sin) then, for them, the act is sinful, and they should obey their conscience and treat it as sin-- perhaps until it is revealed to them otherwise. I hope this point is clearer this time around. Maybe I will try to dig up that portion of scripture. It is interesting.
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