We are living in a different world today – much different to the one in which I was raised. Our eyes and ears hear and see things that weren’t common when I was a child. In the 70s, on TV or the radio, you never heard a curse word. Intimate scenes between a man and woman only showed a kiss then a closed door. Even as a child we considered ourselves as being naughty by spelling out the word HELL on an electronic calculator. When you compare today with yesterday, many do not even blink an eye to things, and I have to ask if Christians are becoming blind to sin?
A definition of sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. In 1 John 3:4 “Whosever commtteth sin transgressth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” KJV. The Bible notes over 103 different sins. There are many I’m sure people don’t stop to consider what they are doing as a sin. As John states if you commit sin you transgress the law. What I find interesting is we live in a society governed by law that Christians will uphold but when it comes to Biblical laws, we often ignore them. I worry sin has become such a common practice in our society today that it’s expected to be accepted. If one speaks out about it, then one is criticized for being controversial.
Growing up I knew getting drunk was a sin. Do you think it stopped me from doing it? Even at the age of knowing better I would still have a little too much from time to time. I would justify it by telling myself I was in the comfort of my own home. I wasn’t drinking and driving. I wasn’t hurting anyone so did it really matter if I got a bit tipsy after a stressful day? The real question is, what would God think? The other side is, if there was ever a time that my mother suspected an overindulgence, she would say something to me. Do you think I ever came back at my mom telling her to stop judging me? She never said it to be mean or condescending. She said it with love and concern. I knew my mother still loved me but she didn’t have to condone my sin.
As Christians we have the Bible, so we know the truth. If we don’t speak the truth, what does that say about us or our faith? At a recent revival I heard an evangelist say the Spirit of Religion will silence you. How often does a Christian speak about sin only to have someone throw back about not judging one another? In the Bible God tells us to hold each one accountable. James 5: 19-20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
As Christians today, we can’t continue to remain silent. We should never throw out hate speech but also, we should not be silenced just because someone doesn’t like what we are saying. There is an old saying – truth hurts. It wasn’t easy to hear my mother tell me to watch how much I was drinking. I didn’t want to face the facts that it was wrong. Besides other than drinking and driving, where do you hear anyone being criticized over drunkenness? Honestly it wasn’t until God kept telling me over and over to stop that I did. Since 2019 I felt God’s calling on my life and drinking would hinder that calling. I finally listened to my Father.
The realization we must remember is sin pulls us away from God and opens doorways for someone else to step inside. The Devil is constantly looking for those open doorways. I can easily look at my life and see all the ways the Devil stepped right in. I worry the more we become accepting of sin the more we will continue to fall for it. The more we fall for sin, the more we lose our relationship with God. The more we lose our relationship with God, the more the Devil will find ways to fill the loss. It’s not hard to look around and see how much has already been lost in our world.
When our day is done, I know God will be the ultimate judge. Along with that judging though I wonder if I will be asked “You knew between right and wrong. You knew sin, but what did you do to help others walk away from it?” Many may not like what I have to say but all I know is when I take my last breath on this earth, I will leave knowing I didn’t remain silent.
