Weighing different sins

Throughout history, humans have always had their own ranking of sins. Certain heinous sins are too awful to talk about, and discussing other seemingly more minor sins may get you only a brief look of consternation or even a shoulder shrug. Some sins are socially acceptable, while others are unacceptable; speeding will get you a smile from a neighbor (unless he’s the police chief), but setting fire to your neighbor’s car out of spite won’t be looked upon with a humorous eye. Parts of the Church have followed suit in categorizing sin, as Catholics classify sin as being either mortal (major) or venial (minor).  

The Bible talks about the consequences of certain sins more than others, but it never gives any kind of ranking to them. Instead, the Bible focuses much of its attention on the fact that all sins, major or minor, stain the soul of a human and come under the same judgment of God. In God’s eyes, a little white lie is as big of a stain before God as a mass murder. Anything not 100 percent sin-free is impure – 99.99 percent isn’t good enough. According to James 2:10, even one itty bitty sin over the course of a lifetime is too much (but check out Chapter 3 to find out about God’s grace and forgiveness).  

Are you skeptical that God treats all sin the same? Well, consider the life of King David, the greatest leader in all of Israel. When he was at his peak of popularity and success, he became prideful and self-absorbed, which ultimately led him to commit adultery and murder his mistress’s husband. From a human standpoint, this guy was disgraceful and committed unforgivable acts. Yet one of the great ironies of the Bible is that God didn’t write off David. In fact, after David repented of his sin, God still called David “a man after God’s own heart.” 

Although the Bible makes it clear that all sin is an offense to God, individual sins impact people differently. The consequences that I must deal with if I’m caught saying a little white lie are much different from the consequences of a mass murder. 

Misunderstanding sin

Sin is a confusing subject and is often misunderstood, both inside and outside the Church. I’ve run into two key misunderstandings of sin, both from completely opposite sides of the tracks, so to speak. I discuss these misunderstandings in the following sections. 

The “spring break” mistake

The first common perception people have concerning sin is the belief that sin is fun – more fun, in fact, than not sinning. This idea is what drives those television ads that I mention in the first section of this chapter. Don’t get me wrong – sin is often fun when you first do it. Yet the fun of sinning is always a limited time offer due to two factors: 

Spiritual hangover: After committing a sin, many people experience a spiritual hangover – remorse and sorrow over why they allowed themselves to sin. Therefore, a moment of fun often turns into a lifetime of pain and regret. 

Christians believe there are two ways to deal with spiritual hangovers. First, by asking for God’s forgiveness through his Son Jesus Christ, which is the only true remedy that will heal the hangover once and for all. Second and alternatively, by continued and persistent sinning (not recommended), as sin can actually sear your conscience and cause you to lose your ability to feel regret. (See the “Sinfested” sidebar for more on this issue.) 

Law of diminishing returns: Sin is ruled by the law of diminishing returns. In other words, each time you sin, you receive a decreasing amount of pleasure and fun from the act. So, in order to receive the same amount of fun, you have to escalate the sin or else sin more frequently to achieve the same level of pleasure. People who struggle with addictions are a prime example of this law in action. Many drug addicts start out with “recreational” drugs and progressively move into more and more serious and dangerous drugs. Sin is just like this. In the end, the law of diminishing returns turns what started out as fun into outright slavery. (See the “Considering how the Fall changed everything” section in this chapter.) 

Even if you focus on the fun of sin, sin is never the most fun you can have. Don’t forget that God is the one who invented fun and pleasure. Do you think he’d save the best for those who disobey him? No – the ultimate in fun is free from sin and side effects and never decreases in return the more you do it.  

The “Don’t drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls who do” mistake

A second misperception many people have is preoccupation with legalism (following rules, thinking of sin as disobeying a “do’s and don’ts” list). On a quick read of the Bible, you may easily conclude that it affirms the idea that Christianity is a system based on rules and regulations. The Ten Commandments are filled with sins a Christian must be on guard for. What’s more, start reading through the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament and you’ll see a slew of “do this, but don’t do that” commands. Even in the New Testament, Jesus gives a lot of “do’s and don’ts” over the course of his ministry. I suppose in a strictly practical sense, sin often comes down to doing and thinking certain things and avoiding other things. But that’s not all sin is, and it’s definitely not how God sees it, as I discuss in the next section.