Nobody panic as if I have suddenly gone off the rails and plan to reject objective truth, adopt moral relativism, and rewrite the ten commandments.
The subjectivity of “sin” I am speaking of relates to things like, not putting the shopping cart back, wearing red shoes, having a tattoo, wearing a pink streak in your hair, yoga pants, eating kale, voting for the wrong political party, being a fan of the Walking Dead, singing off key, cursing, buying lottery tickets, having debt, going to Starbucks, driving a Prius, wearing red shoes…. did I mention the red shoes? The red shoes kind of pushed my buttons.
Least anybody feel silly about these things, let me tell you, the secular world has it own list of subjective “sins” that are enough to boggle the brain, too. This is just human nature at work. We people can be very subjective, judgmental, and shaming of others.
In all seriousness, I have had some deep discussions with people who perceive all of these things to be “sins” and they have provided lots of scripture to back it up…..almost, sort of. I mean, loosely translated I can relate and understand where they are coming from. There actually is no direct biblical injunction against wearing red shoes for example. We could speak of modesty, ostentation, and worldly-ness…. ……or we could just shut the heck up and mind our own business.
That’s how I define a subjective “sin,” it bothers us personally, but it is more about culture, perception, styles, personal opinion, then it is about any genuine objective morality around sin. To complicate things, we ourselves may be deeply convicted about it, but God has a completely different expectation of someone else.
Does that rankle anyone? That rankles me. I’m a bit like a little kid, no fair! No fair! How come that guy’s tattoo might not be “sin” but mine would be? How come she can curse up a storm but God won’t even let me say “crap?” How come the older kids get to stay out late but I’m supposed to be home by dark?
Life is actually not fair, we need to accept that. There are different standards for different people. I could quite easily have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer in the summer with little risk or consequence, but there are some who would actually be sinning because either God has told them they shouldn’t drink, or else they have demonstrated it themselves. “Wine” itself is not a sin, but our relationship, our response to it sure can be. That is one of the numerous things in life that is not always fair, where “sin” can actually apply different standards to different people. Some people can’t eat peanuts and peanut allergies can be pretty serious. “Sin” in the sense, if one were to deliberately ingest them, one would be in trouble.
The subjectivity of “sin” can be kind of fun to play with, as a tool, as a mirror in which to view one’s own self. The things that we care about in others are often the things we ourselves are experiencing, need to deal with. I rarely feel convicted by someone else simply naming something as “sin,” because it doesn’t really speak to me directly. It speaks more to them and who they are. If one is snipping and sniping about red shoes for example, then we can go, ah, so their issue is envy. If someone is plagued by yoga pants and pink hair than we can go, ah, so lust is a real problem for you…..
Hopefully I’ve managed to offend everyone at this point, but I am not quite finished yet. If we totally freak out and get mad because someone mentioned the “sin” of leaving a shopping cart in the parking lot, well then there is something going on within us. We are feeling convicted or shamed or something. Don’t ask me, ask God. He’s the one who sorts those things out with us.
This dance between objectivity, subjectivity, and conviction is kind of becoming a lost art in our world. I keep saying we always need to ask, is it true? Well, the Truth is a person, so if you wish to find the Truth, start looking for it at the foot of the cross. He can’t be found in a list of subjectively defined sins. He can’t even be found in a list of objectively defined ones, although those things will at least teach you a bit about His nature and what He finds important.
Somebody smart once said, “rules are a list of can’t dos, Grace is the freedom of wants to.” I like that, it’s a tongue twister. As we grow in faith, as we avail ourselves of Grace, there is desire to be pleasing to God in EVERYTHING, even the things not in “the rules.” The rules are often not even His at all, but our own or someone else’s. God will even break the rules, the human ones, not His own.
Salvageable said:
Well said, as always. Paul dealt with this topic when addressing Christians in Rome and in Corinth. His test case was eating meat bought from the marketplace, meat that most likely had first been offered to a Greek or Roman god. Paul said, if it bothers you, don’t eat it; and if doesn’t bother you, go ahead and eat it. But do not judge each other. Also do not go out of the way to offend others. This is called Christian freedom. The glass of wine is fine, unless you have invited into your house someone you know will be troubled by it. Your taste in music is fine–just don’t force me to listen. Dungeons and Dragons is a fine game to play, but don’t be talking about it at length in front of people who disapprove. Red shoes are fine. Playing cards is fine. Reading Harry Potter books is fine. But when someone has a problem with one of these things, be sensitive to his or her feelings. That’s not political correctness run amok–that’s common courtesy. Moreover, when one is troubled and chooses not to partake, that’s fine too. Consider it a fast that honors the Lord. J.
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afatherslove2017 said:
AMEN!!! … Personal conviction is just that – PERSONAL.
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Sarah said:
Exactly, Paul said if it causes a weaker brother to stumble, then it is best not to do it.
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Mel Wild said:
Amen. It certainly didn’t offend me. I couldn’t agree more. Of course, my subjective list is different than yours. I could care less about red shoes (although singing off key is pretty close to unforgiveable!), but overbearing, arrogant people who only want to hear themselves speak….they should be shot on sight! Okay…maybe that was a little harsh… 🙂
Seriously, as Jesus pointed out, when we start micro-managing others, criticizing their culturally-based decisions, we end up being hypocrites. We might rail against tattoos but are quite comfortable being gossips, being unforgiving, or not being totally honest about our taxes. The only person we’re fooling is ourselves.
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newenglandsun said:
“Nobody panic as if I have suddenly gone off the rails and plan to reject objective truth, adopt moral relativism, and rewrite the ten commandments.”
So un-Christian of your views and toxic to the faith of Christ!
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insanitybytes22 said:
You forgot intolerant 🙂
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newenglandsun said:
oh yeah. That too. See…I am a true Progressive Christian–agree with my idea that Christianity is too dogmatic or you’re not a Christian!
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Mike said:
The only ‘sin’ related to yoga pants depends on who’s wearing them.
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insanitybytes22 said:
You always make me laugh, Mike. 🙂
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Mike said:
You’re writing is always so good it is the only small thing I can offer as thanks. Cheers, IB.
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Debbie L said:
Kale is my new go to vegetable!!! Really, how could it offend anyone! Steamed is best!
Now an ice cream Sunday? That’s offensive since we’ve sworn off sweets and now follow John and Ocean Robbins, founders of the food revolution. They gave up their Baskin Robbins inheritance since they discovered ice cream isn’t so good for you! But the yoga pants, now LaLuRoe leggings or something is another thing to ban!
Lol, otherwise I’m with you! 😏
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ColorStorm said:
Nothing to say. Just beautiful.
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Citizen Tom said:
There is that plank in the eye versus the spec in the eye thing.
The some things that other people do that leave me quite exasperated. Yet if what others do does not actually harm me or anyone else, what is the point in making it against the law? Yet people find excuses for making this, that, and everything else illegal. We call it political correctness.
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MJThompson said:
Excellent commentary on Law (rules, restrictions, regulations, etc.) vs, Grace (liberty, freedom, unmerited favor, etc.)!
Your comment: “… those things will at least teach you a bit about His nature and what He finds important.” reminded me of this:
I served several years as Camp Director for high school youth camps. One year we employed as our theme “WWJD?” – (what would Jesus do?). After several assemblies where ‘sermons’ were shared on various related aspects of the theme, a young lady came to my office seeking clarification.
Bluntly put, she asked, “How can I know what Jesus would do, when I’ve never even met Him?”
If our ‘preaching thew gospel’ doesn’t invoke THAT question in EVERY one of our listeners, is our ‘gospel’ true?
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lovelifeandgod said:
My dad once told me something to the effect of, “there are none so righteous as those who want to cover their own faults.” So, people who are convicted, who feel guilty at their core, sometimes people who do terrible things, will still apply a moral code onto others. It’s like in jail where you’ll have murderers beating up child abusers. They can see someone else’s theft of an innocent’s life in a different way than they saw their theft of another’s.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Amen, Ada! My dad used to say something similar. I guess when you’ve received grace, you give grace and when there’s something in us in condemnation, we’re quick to condemn others.
That greatest commandment, I always say that’s in 3 parts, love God,love yourself,love your neighbor. Some people believe we shouldn’t be loving ourselves, but I’ve found that those who don’t, aren’t really able to love anyone else.
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