As a pastor it goes without saying that I spend a lot of time working with people who are facing the consequences of sin. Sin is a word that our culture seems to have dropped from its vocabulary. I personally believe that it has a lot to do with two things. First, I believe we don’t like to talk about sin because many people claim to not believe in God anymore. Second, and I think this is closely related to the first point; we don’t like talking about sin because we don’t like to feel guilty. To talk about sin implies right or wrong, and we don’t want to be wrong because then we feel guilty. Instead we want to do whatever we want and not feel bad for it. So because we don’t want to feel bad, we pretend God doesn’t exist, and in so doing we think we have rid ourselves of the concept of sin and as a result think we can do whatever we want without consequence.
The problem is that when we sin everyone suffers. If you believe in God or not there are things we do, choices we make, that result in others being hurt. The reality is that entire cultures, entire civilisations crumble when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Normally I like to think of myself as an optimist. The glass is half full. But when I watch Western society constantly seeking to liberate itself with each successive “freedom” or “right” I see the truths of that old principle that goes something like this: “sin complicates everything”.
Consider a hypothetical scenario. A man is married with two children. While on a business trip, he meets a young attractive lady. Instead of being faithful to his wife, he decides to have a little fun on the side thinking no one will know, so no one will get hurt. The problem is that usually someone ends up finding out. The wife receives a misdirected phone call, or the kids while playing on the computer discover an email. Once people find out, life gets very complicated. Can the wife trust the husband anymore? Will they get divorced? Who gets the kids? Where will the kids live? Will he be able to hold his job as he watches his life unravel?
God has put in place what I like to call moral absolutes. These moral absolutes are standards of behaviour which when followed result in everyone being affected in a positive way. When they are not followed the result is hurt, pain, suffering, anger, etc. When we violate God’s moral absolutes we have sinned and the reality is that sin is damaging. We can pretend all we want that we are invincible. We can pretend that violating God’s moral laws will have no consequence. In fact sin can be very deceitful. It can deceive you into thinking you are doing the right thing because it feels good. The problem, though, is that in the end your sins will surface and the consequence of those sins will play out in your life. It may not happen right away, but rest assured you will be forced to account for them eventually.
So how do we know what is right and wrong? If you watch our culture you would think that right and wrong is determined by the latest poll. If a poll tells us that 50% of the population agree with something then we conclude that it must be okay. The rationale behind this is that if so many agree with it, how can it be wrong? As I have already pointed out, sin has consequences. So when a culture embraces all kinds of evil, you can reasonably expect to find all kinds of suffering, broken relationships and pain. In our present day you don’t have to look hard to find these things. When moral laws written by God are broken, people get hurt, relationships fall apart, marriages break and the innocent suffer. These are the consequences of sin.
So what are we to do about this? When you are making your daily decisions, consider the impact you will have on others. Every decision we make will impact those around us. Perhaps look up the ten commandments and use them as a guide for what to do next. On the flip side, when we do break God’s laws, it helps to know that it’s never too late to ask for forgiveness. While God hates sin, he anxiously awaits any and all that might come to Him asking for forgiveness. While sin is destructive, God is waiting and not only will he forgive but he can make good out of the mess we have made. We are never beyond God’s reach.