The citizens of Springfield Springfield
It is said that the best
humor is founded in the truth, but is there truth in what Marge said? Not really.
It is true that society acts
that way—even the society within the church—but there’s no indication in
Scripture that God acts that way.
Do we want him to? At first blush, the answer could seem like
“yes”. See, I want God to evolve where
my sins are concerned, but not where yours are.
Well, if you’re a good friend
of mine, I’ll be magnanimous and let your sins slide, but let’s be careful
‘cause there’s that guy over there who I can’t stand and I’m kinda hoping God
will hold his sin against him!
I was recently pointed to a
blog by a pastor who was setting out in four easy steps what he would do if his
child were found to be overcome by a sinful lifestyle. The four steps were:
1] You’ll know it. i.e. he wouldn’t hide his child’s sinfulness
from the world, but broadcast it for all to see. In other words, he wouldn’t pretend that his
child wasn’t sinful.
2] I’ll pray for them. Because this is what a loving parent
does. (Can I get an “amen”?)
3] I’ll love them. See the last numbered point.
4] Most likely, I already have sinful
children. It is the pastor/blogger’s
opinion that his child was born with the sin already a marked part of his/her
personality and there’s nothing that can be done to change that.
OK, I have to admit here
that I have fudged the facts of the dude’s blog just a little. He never referred to the behavior in question
as a sin. Either he—like Marge—has
decided that since society has deemed it OK it’s not a sin anymore, or, maybe
it is still a sin but God’s not going to be as uptight about such things as he
used to be.
Either way, that’s a mighty
big leap. Now, I will admit that the
church has treated as sinful things that the Bible doesn’t say are. [Gambling’s a good example. I think gambling’s a waste of money and I see
no good coming from it, but there is no where in Scripture a “thou shalt not
gamble” commandment or anything that even comes close.] We’ve also had a bad habit of engaging in
things that the Bible specifically says are
sins, like gossip and slander. So I can’t
get on any moral high horse and claim “we of the church are always right about
this!”
Still, look back at that
fourth point (with a glance at the first one).
What if Biblical scholars of the last two thousand years are correct and
the behavior in question is sinful?
I’ve seen some pretty tortured reasoning to say it’s not, but let’s say
that—in this case—the scholars were right and the sin is still a sin? What should
we do?
2 & 3 are spot on! I’ve got two kids myself and both of them are
sinners. (They come by it naturally:
their parents are sinners, too.) I pray
for them on a daily basis (waking time, I pray for them on an hourly basis,
sometimes minutely). I love them. I always will. But I won’t accept the sin in their
lives. One of the things I’ll always
pray about for them is that God will convict them of their sin—GOD
will convict—and they will repent out of their love for him.
What I won’t do is parade
their sin in front of others. I have no
desire to either shame them, or pretend that their sin isn’t sin (which is what
I believe the point of #1 is). As to #4,
our modern culture tells us that we are born with or genetically predisposed to
some behaviors, therefore they are not sinful.
It’s a comforting thought, but it’s a non sequitur. Just because you can’t help gossiping or
murdering does not make you any less culpable.
And that old non-Biblical saw of “love the sinner, hate the sin” gets
easier every time we downgrade a sin to “possibly a less-than-ideal idea”.
“Wait, Sam! You mean my son Willard, who was born with a
need to gossip, is going to be held accountable for that?!? That’s not fair!”
Why not? Willard is a human being, right? He’s not a hound dog, unable to resist the
siren call of a female in heat. Sure, it
might mean that he feels a little unfulfilled for the rest of his life because
he is morally bound to not gratify his every whim, but a] that’s a small price
to pay for eternity and 2] we of his family (physical and congregational)
should try to lift him up and help him find fulfillment and love in non-sinful
ways. Willard might go to his grave
still lusting after a juicy bit of gossip, but not getting gossip won’t kill
him. (This seems terribly unfair to our
modern ears and sensibilities, where we expect every desire to be met—and
quickly! “30 minutes or it’s free”,
that’s our motto.)
I’ve gotta admit: I love
God’s grace, but it sure is confusing!
You mean God doesn’t want to hold any of my sins against me? But wait, you’re saying he also doesn’t want
me to continue in sin? Wouldn’t it be
easier for me to pile up the sins so he could show me more grace? (See Romans 6
for an answer to that question!)
Our culture is going to
continue to call what is sinful not.
Grace is going to continue to be watered down—who needs it if the
behavior isn’t really sinful, after
all?
So, as much as I love grace,
I understand the appeal of legalism.
[See my blog on the topic at http://garisonfitch.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-appeal-of-legalism.html] It’d be easier to just pronounce judgment on
all sinners … except that, to paraphrase the great Andy Taylor, “If I was to
throw out all sinners I’d better reach around and get a holt of my own
britches!”
There’s not an easy solution
here because everyone I know is a sinner, and me most of all. It’s not my place to condemn anyone. It’s also not my place to let the people
around me continue in sin. So every day
is a tightrope walk between loving acceptance and Godly challenge … and maybe
that’s the beginning of the key: instead of always chastising someone for their
sin, challenge them (and me) to live upward.
Let’s don’t any of us settle for what we are, but strive to let God work
us into what we should become.
*May not be an exact quote, but I’m sure I’m pretty
close.
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