Summer Sunday Series
“Christianish”
Part 2- Sin & the Christianish
Introduction:
Last week we kicked off this Summer Sunday Series by asking, “Are you Christianish?” And by Christianish we mean having the appearance of Christianity (in certain areas of your life), but not necessarily the substance of Christianity in your heart. Being Christianish is when you do some of the things Christians are expected to do...especially in and around the church...but outside you’re something else entirely. It’s being Christian, sort of.
And we posed four big questions that you can ask yourself to help determine if you are Christianish:
• First, “Am I more concerned with being the kind of Christian others think I should be than I am with actually being like Jesus?”
• Next, “Have I compartmentalized my life to the extent that Who Jesus is affects part of my life, but leaves many areas essentially untouched?”
• Then, “Does my feeling of success as a Christian largely depend upon completing a checklist of rules and regulations?”
• And finally, “Do I think that by attending Sunday worship faithfully, paying tithe, and completing the checklist that I have fulfilled my Christian obligations?”
Then we looked at the story of some Christianish people in Acts 5...Annanias & Sapphira...and we learned that while they probably weren’t terrible people, being Christianish doesn’t end well. And we learned that it’s really important to measure our lives by the right standard, by the person of Jesus Christ.
Today we’re continuing this series by talking about something that I’m sure is going to prove to be equally popular and enjoyable; today we’re going to examine the subject of Sin & the Christianish.
I. Sin; What Is It?
When talking about something like sin, it’s always good to start out by making sure the audience is on the same page as you. After all, there are different ways of thinking about the concept of sin, and not all of them are spiritual or religious or Biblical. For instance, sin can be defined as “anything shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.” (That’s according to thefreedictionary.com) So, certain actions or attitudes might be considered sins against society, or sins against the state, or sins against your culture...but since we’re addressing both Christians and the Christianish, we need to understand the concept of sin as it’s presented in the Bible.
Ok...from my understanding of the Scriptures...(and I freely admit I have a lot to learn)...the concept of “sin” as it’s presented in the Scripture has three different but related aspects.
First, the Bible presents sin as transgression of the Law of God. When the Bible says that you aren’t to do a certain thing, and you do it anyway, that’s sin. Conversely, not doing the good things the Law of God says to do is also presented as sin. So, sin is transgressing the Law of God, either by doing wrong or by failing to do good.
Second, the Bible presents sin as disobedience to God’s commands issued to our consciences. Now, you might think that this is the very same as the first, but it’s not. The Law of God was written and had limited parameters. But what about that little “spidey sense” that tells a person, “Don’t do this”? There may not be a specific written ordinance telling you not to do it, but violating that little inner voice that says, “Don’t!” is sin.
Third, the Bible presents sin as missing the mark, as in missing the target. It’s a term taken from the sport of archery; the archer aims at the target, but doesn’t hit what he’s aiming at. This aspect of sin has implications of effort; you’re trying to do the right thing, you’re trying not to disobey either the written Word or God’s command to your conscience, you’re aiming at the right mark. But, sometimes you miss. And the Scripture presents that as sin.
II. Sin & Culture
Alright…these are aspects of what the Bible presents as sin, but as I’ve already mentioned, every society and culture has its own mores and values, the violation of which is the cultural equivalent of sin. Each society and culture has certain taboos…things you shouldn’t say, things you shouldn’t do. And if you do them, well, things may not go well for you. Furthermore, these mores, values, and taboos may not be sin in the Biblical sense, or they may at times contradict Biblical injunctions.
For example; to certain Amazonian cultures ritual cannibalism is an accepted practice, which they think makes the victim’s strengths & abilities their own. This belief is part of their value system, yet, cannibalism is expressly forbidden in the Bible. Or, if you’d like an example from our own culture; our society has rejected the idea of absolute truth, and really looks down on those who insist on believing that some things are absolutely true. Yet, even though our culture rejects the idea of absolute truth, the Bible clearly teaches in terms of absolutes.
The point is that things that are considered “sin” in a society may not accorded the same treatment in the pages of the Bible. Likewise, things the Bible identifies as sin may not be considered sin by a society.
So, every culture and subculture has its own ideas of what’s acceptable and unacceptable, of things that are appropriate and inappropriate. And with the realm of unacceptable and inappropriate, there are the HUGE TABOOS and the small taboos, the BIG SINS and the smaller, more acceptable sins. And I know that right now you’re nodding politely but probably thinking, “What on earth does this have to do with being Christianish?” Well, it’s this…
…that even within our little Oneness Pentecostal sub-sub-culture, even we have our ideas of things that are big and bad and horrible, and other things that, while we think they’re bad, they’re not really so bad. We recognize big sins… big No-No’s, awful & terrible sins, really bad sins. But there are also other kinds of sins, sins that are more acceptable within our little culture.
Here’s what’s so dangerous about that; we’ll guard ourselves against the Big Sins, but grant free absolution to ourselves with the little ones. We’ll be harsh and judgmental, or maybe even contrite and sorrowful, about the Big Sins. Yet my experience is that these little sins that we practice more freely and find acceptable within our little sub-culture are actually far more dangerous and destructive to us than the big ones. It’s always the little foxes that spoil the vine, and it’s usually the acceptable sins that transform Christian people into Christianish people. It’s usually the little, acceptable sins the smoothes a person’s pathway from the Presence of God & His Church, that prepares them for their exit from the Holy.
Look, when I talk to Christians about sin, there’s usually a short list of about a half-dozen sins that qualify in their minds as the biggies, and half of that list is usually made up of sexual sins. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, abortion, denying the faith, forsaking sound doctrine…that’s the list of things that seem most commonly to leap to mind as Big Sins.
But there are other sins far more common among us than these, far more acceptable to us than these…They’re the little sins like pride & jealousy, the acceptable sins like gossip & backbiting, the ordinary sins like greed & materialism, like lying & deception. And in all my experience I’ve seen more Christians made Christianish by the acceptable sins than I’ve ever seen fall to the “really bad” ones. And I’ve seen more Christianish people lose out with God entirely over the “little” sins than I’ve ever seen backslide over the “big” ones.
We’re like the zookeeper in the snake pit who’s so focused on avoiding the cobra that he pays no attention to the baby rattlesnakes. Sure, the cobra is dangerous and deadly. And yes, it should be avoided. But a rattlesnake 6 inches long can inject enough venom to be lethal, and if not lethal, can cause serious infections and devastating medical problems. We avoid the big sins...and we should! But it’s acceptable ones that destroy us.
But how? How are Christians drawn in by these acceptable sins? We understand how people fall to the big sins...they’re drawn away by their own desires. But these little, acceptable sins? How do Christians allow things like pride & jealousy, gossip & backbiting, greed & materialism, lying & deception, to have such sway over their lives…to the point that they’re no longer Christian at all, but only Christianish? Here’s how…here’s why…
It’s because these acceptable sins are so reasonable. They’re not looming and terrifying. They’re not seductive and attractive. They’re reasonable. They make sense to us. Pride? I’ve battled pride, fallen to pride, repented over pride, sought forgiveness over pride…and kept going back to it again, because it’s reasonable to be proud! I can justify pride! It’s natural to be proud! And on and on with all the rest of the acceptable sins and their companions…we accept them and engage them and excuse them so readily because they seem like reasonable elements of real life.
Jealousy is reasonable. So is gossip. It’s only human! And backbiting, too. It’s reasonable to want more and more, to be greedy, and to assign value to others based on their possessions. And even if lying is a no-no, deception is certainly acceptable. That’s just good business. Come on…you see it, you know it, you understand it. These are the reasonable sins…acceptable, reasonable little killers…little poisoners…little destroyers…that’ll consume all that’s truly Christian about your life, and leave you with nothing but a hollow shell that’s only Christianish.
III. Dealing With Sin
So how do we deal with it? How do we deal with these acceptable, reasonable sins? Well, the way Pentecostals typically deal with these reasonable little sins is with denial. We ignore that they’re actually sins and keep right on committing them. Or, we know that they’re sins and keep right on because we don’t care that they’re sins. If we’re in this state, we’re Christianish...and on the way out.
But some Pentecostals feel conviction over these acceptable sins and seek to deal with them through repentance & confession. The problem is that we turn away from the same sins over and over again, until it seems as if one foot is nailed to the floor and we’re spinning in a repentant circle. We confess our sins to God in sincerity, but find ourselves confessing the same issue so often that our prayer starts to sound more like a yogic mantra. If we’re in this state, we’re Christianish...and in a holding pattern. What’s needed is something to break the cycle, and get us out of the pattern of acceptable sin.
What we need is Word & Spirit. We’ve got to study the Word, and not just read it. Lots of notable sinners have read the Bible. Studying the Word will make you conscious of what God says is sin, how He feels about it, and what it does to us. Studying the Word will help us see the significance of sin as sin...it’ll help us understand sin as an offence against God, no matter how acceptable it might be in our church culture. Studying the Word will show us what God would have us do, how God would have us live, how God would have us respond, even when the sin we’re tempted with seems utterly reasonable. The Holy Spirit will add life to this process. The Spirit will heighten our sensitivity to the commands of God in our conscience. The Spirit will check us before we engage the sin, and provide us with a Spirit-led alternative to the path of reasonable sin.
Closing:
Hey...I’ve lived all of my life as a Believer. I’ve been immersed in the Oneness Pentecostal culture from the moment I was born into the world! I know what we’re like, and I know how Christianish we can be. I know how hard we work to shun certain big sins, and how easily we fall into the trap of the more acceptable ones. I know the damage those little killers can do.
But I also know that there’s nothing in this world more amazing than a Pentecostal believer that decides to shake himself from the lethargy of being Christianish in the pursuit of authentic Christianity. I know there’s nothing in the world more powerful than a congregation made up of that kind of Pentecostal...nothing that bears more witness to the life changing, soul delivering power of a loving, merciful God.
We can be that congregation...the congregation that forsakes the merely Christianish in the headlong, whole-hearted pursuit of being Christian.
