Becoming Desensitized To Sin: The Danger Of Creeping Normalcy

BECOMING DESENSITIZED TO SIN: THE DANGER OF CREEPING NORMALCY

INTRODUCTION

A. I am 80 years old and have witnessed moral and spiritual changes in American that boggle my mind and

alarm my spirit.

B. Alarm bells go off in the hearts and minds of sincere believers when the following topics are mentioned:

sexual mores, drugs, gun violence, political corruption, religious charlatans, and “things like these” (Gal

5:21).

C. My parents would grasp in unbelief if they watched the 24/7 news cycle for just one day. Not only would

they be shocked at the things that are being practiced, but they would be doubly shocked at the fact that

so many find it so normal.

D. All of humanity’s problems have their roots in the Garden of Eden.

I. DESENSITIZED EVE IN THREE STEPS

A. Dialog: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”(Gen 3:1, ESV)

B. Denial: “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you

will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Gen 3:4, ESV) . Note that Satan told a half-truth (Gen 3:7)

C. Demonstration: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to

the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also

gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6).

II. TAKING THE HORROR OUT OF SIN

A. Normalize the Abnormal:

1. The power of the poll: If the majority of people (51%) of the people polled accept

something as normal, it is normal. Most people want to be normal, so they join with the majority,

and the gap between truth and error grows wider. In the 50s, openly living together before

marriage was anathema. Today, 60% of couples cohabit before marriage.

2. Bogus research: True research is a rigorous process. The “research” that often makes the evening

news is often shoddy and sometimes deliberately falsified. One poll may say that 60% of

Americans favor candidate for President. Another may say that 60% favor candidate B. Obviously,

the particiapnts for each poll were picked to predetermine the outcome.

3. TV, the Trojan Horse: Words that would have gotten any boy’s mouth washed out with soap in the

1950s is now piped into the home and repeated by preschoolers.

B. Trivialize the Serious and the Sacred

1. Sin has become a mere mistake, a poor choice, a dysfunctional behavior, and a symptom to be

treated at worst.

2. “Stubborn fools make fun of guilt, but there is forgiveness among decent people” (Prov 14:9)

C. Sanitize the Sordid by Euphemisms

1. Committing fornication = “in a relationship”

2. Committing adultery = “having an affair”

3. Having a filthy mouth = “being colorful”

4. Arrogance = “self-assurance”

5. Sin = making a mistake

D. Sin by any other name is still sin (Isa 5:20).

E. Paul’s Warning of Creeping Normalcy: “And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no

going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with

God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight

anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of

perversion. But that’s no life for you” (Eph 4:17-20, Message).

III. VICTORY IS NOT IN ISOLATION

A. “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people

of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to

leave this world” (1 Cor 5:9-10, NIV).

B. “ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John

17:15).

IV. FAITH IS THE VICTORY (1 John 5:4)

A. A victorious faith focuses on the Goal of Christ-Likeness (Eph 4:20-24).

B. A victorious faith focuses on the power of Christ (1 Pet 1:3-5).

C. A victorious faith focuses on the good (Phil 4:8-9).

CONCLUSION

A. Beware of the creeping normalcy of sin in the world.

B. Beware of the creeping normalcy of dialogue with the forces of Satan.