Sin is Sin

One of the most grievous things that I see in some of Christianity today is the seeming disregard for sin.  Now mind you we are quick to jump all over sexual perversions but we seem to struggle to understand that in God’s sight there is no categorization to sins.  God is holy in every area and we must seek to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). There are no BIG sins or LITTLE sins!

For instance here are some of the things that God calls abomination:

1. Proverbs 6:17-19 lists seven abominations to God: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
2. Not being fair in ALL your business dealings is also an abomination according to Proverbs 11:1.  This means you should pay the price for the goods and services you receive and ask fairly for the same in kind when you do the work.
3. Ezekiel 18:12 says that not caring for the poor is an abomination on the same level as idolatry.  The poor are so precious in God’s sight that Jesus taught more about caring for the poor than He did about Heaven!  How many times have you given to help the poor or just think that welfare will do it for you?
4. The only time that Jesus called a sin abomination was Luke 16:15 and He was speaking of self-righteous judging hypocrites!  This one is an article within itself for another time!
5. According to Revelation 21:27 lying receives the same judgment from God as every other “abomination.”

Now I want to be clear up front that sexual perversions are wrong in God’s sight and we must preach and stand against them.  But I am also convinced that often we are pointing at the sins of others around us and not dealing with our own “abominations.”

Let me give an example that raised its head this week on several occasions.  There is an article being floated by Christians all over social media and through emails that state as fact that in a 2012 NBC’s Matt Lauer interviewed a widow from the Libya terrorist attack on the embassy there that killed four Americans.  Here is what is being spread around:

“‘On the "Today Show’, Matt Lauer interviewed a wife of one of the Navy Seals killed along with the US ambassador in Libya. He asked what she would say to her children about their dad and how she would want them to remember him. Her answer, and I quote, "His love for Christ", and then continued on with a few other things. Throughout the day and on MSN homepage, replaying the story, they have edited the ‘Love of Christ’ part out. Why? Because using the word Christ might offend someone! Well, I am a Christian and I am offended! I'm offended that they would edit it out.”

The problem?  THIS IS A LIE!!!!  Christ was NOT EDITED OUT of the interview and you can find copies of the interview showing the wife and the rest of the family speaking of this warrior’s “love for Christ.”  It was proven untrue by several sites such as truthorfiction.com. Yet Christians continue to spread the LIE because of their disdain for the media.  Now mind you the media is clearly anti-holiness for sure and at times seemingly anti-Christian, but to LIE about them does not only hurt the cause of Christ’s reputation of honesty, but it is an ABOMINATION according to Proverbs 6:17 & 19 (Notice lying is covered twice under this abomination list) and Revelation 21:27.

Some might say, “I didn’t know it wasn’t true and it seemed plausible.”  But isn’t it biblical to determine whether something is true or false BEFORE we spread it around?  I thought that spreading unsubstantiated things was gossip?  And isn’t “gossip” also an abomination (Proverbs 6:19)?  And to add to this discussion, what was the reason these folks posted this LIE about the media?  Because in their minds they either distrust the media so much that they want to discredit it or they hate the media for its openly anti-holiness stance.  But didn’t Paul say “judge nothing before the time” (1 Corinthians 4:5)?

I don’t trust the media to share all the truth and can believe that they would edit out things that show Christ in a positive light.  We know that the only truth we can have full confidence in is the Word of God!  

But the point of this article is that it isn’t just sexual perversions that hinder the Holy Spirit from moving in our midst…it’s the other abominations too, because SIN IS SIN!