This week, a listener writes in to ask: Are all sins the same? And should we re-think how we look at sin?
Jamie Dew: Hey, everybody, this is Jamie Dew.
Joe Fontenot: And I'm Joe Fontenot.
Jamie: And welcome back to our podcast, The Towel & Basin.
Joe: So today, Jamie, this comes from a listener question. And the essence of this is, are all sins the same?
Jamie: What do you mean?
Joe: Okay. So this idea that whether it's based on Christian culture, Southern Baptist culture, or whatever, how we have this ranking for sins, how some sins are considered to be maybe a white lie or something like that level. And then, of course, we have all these really bad sins.
Jamie: Favorite sins that we like to pick on.
Joe: That's right. We like the pick on these. We like to say, "Well, you know, everybody makes mistakes," for these. How should we look at sin?
Jamie: Okay. Yeah. So I guess there is a tendency to pick and choose the sins that we will be inclined to see as the serious ones and then others that maybe we're not inclined to talk about. And I guess that's really what's at the root of this.
Joe: Exactly.
Jamie: I don't know. Maybe my take on this is a little different from other folks. I'm inclined to say both yes and no. It does seem to me there's absolutely a sense in which all sin is equal. I would think of that more relationally with God. So for example, with regard to our relationship with God, I think we'd have to say that sin is sin, all defiles, all separates, all destroys, and all sin renders us in need of salvation and redemption. And I think of a number of biblical passages here that would incline me to say, yes, there is a sense in which they are all the same.
So for example, in the Book of James we're told, "He who keeps the entire law, but sins in one point breaks one of those laws, then ultimately he's a breaker of not just one but of the whole law." It seems pretty clear that what James is wanting us to see here is exactly that, all sin, whether big in our eyes or little in our eyes, will defile us before God. I also think that there's precedent for that biblically when we go to the Sermon on the Mount. Not surprising, you'd find a parallel between the Book of James and the Sermon on the Mount, lot of scholars have noticed that. I don't know if this is what James has in mind when he says this, but Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount brings up the issue of murder and the issue of adultery.
And it's parallel, what he says about both of them. But in the case of say hatred, he says, "You have heard it said that you shall not murder. And I say to you that he who has hated someone in his heart is guilty of murder before God." Now, I'm going to come back to this statement here in just a second, because it does seem to me there's a difference between hating and murdering. But the point that Jesus is wanting to make here is that, look, you think you're getting off just because you have not sinned externally by killing somebody. But I'm telling you that God looks at your heart just as badly, if you will, with just the same amount of defilement over the hatred in your heart. So hatred is as big a deal as actual murder in God's sight.
So again, Jesus seems to be saying this the same stuff. Then he does the same exact thing with adultery and lust. "You have heard it said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that if you've lusted after a woman in your heart, you've already committed adultery." And again, the point seems to be that, man, in the eyes of God, this sin over here, the little one, the little guy sin is just as problematic to God as the big boy one over here. I also would say in Galatians chapter five, it's very interesting that when Paul compares in contrast the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit there, his description or his list, if you will, of the works of the flesh, it's very interesting. He puts in that list of the works of the flesh what we buy our estimations today would probably categorize as little, little sins, things as innocent in our minds as say hatred or dissensions-
Joe: Or jealousy...
Jamie: ... Yeah, things like that. Those are minor things in our mind. He puts those things in the same categories as things like witchcraft and orgies and fornication. So here again, Paul is leveling the field saying there's absolutely this sense in which these will all defile you before God.
Let me give one other reason I think that we have to say, at least in a sense, yes, they're all the same to this. All sin, whether in our mind something small or in our mind something big, it's all the same in its... I say nature for lack of better word. There's a big debate in Christian theology as to whether or not sin and evil has a positive nature. But anyway, leaving that philosophical question aside, what does sin do, whether big, little, or whatever? All sin destroys. So the analogy we could use is the analogy of a physical disease. All disease, whether it kills you immediately or just gradually eats away at you, ultimately diseases destroy.
And so all sin, whether it has a huge earthly consequence or a small earthly consequence, all sin is destructive.
Joe: Which is why Paul and this Galatians list would put these-
Jamie: Correct.
Joe: ... crazy things like orgies-
Jamie: That's correct.
Joe: ... with jealousy.
Jamie: That's correct. So what I'm saying so far is, are all sins the same? Yes, in the sense of they all defile before God, and they all have a destructive nature. So to sin, to give yourself to sin, just is now to give yourself to destruction and decay and disease in your life. And I think believers have to understand that. Having said that... And perhaps this is why there's a tendency to rank as the bigger sins or the lesser sins in our lives. Again, I'm not convinced that that's a legitimate thing to do at all, to rank bigger or littler. But maybe the tendency that we have to do that is based in the fact, and this is a fact, that locally here on our life, within our interactions with each other, some sins carry greater consequences on earth than other sins.
So for example, if I have a tendency to just brush aside the law and run the stoplight or brush aside the law and run the stop sign or something like that, that's bad and that can destroy. It can actually bring death. It's bad. But if I take my gun around, and I just start shooting people, that's going to carry a heavier consequence. And I go back to that statement in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus deals with murder and adultery again. And again, I just argued, his point is to say to us that lust defiles just as much in the eyes of God, as physical adultery does. And hatred in the heart defiles just as much as murder does.
So they're equal in that sense. But there's also a sense in which if I had to pick between the two of them, say hatred and murder, which would I rather have you do towards me? There's absolutely a sense in which I'd rather Joe hate me than murder me. There's more of a sense... And I don't want either one of these, don't get me wrong. I'd rather have someone lust after me then commit adultery with me, I guess is a clumsy way of saying that. Does that make sense?
Joe: Sure.
Jamie: And why? It's because to hate in my heart may not have the same catastrophic-
Joe: It-
Jamie: ... It will have a catastrophic... but maybe not the same degree of-
Joe: ... It's like a collateral damage kind of thing. So if I hate you, versus me murdering you, the collateral damage in the one is pretty low in hating you.
Jamie: ... It could-
Joe: It could-
Jamie: ... evolve into something very big-
Joe: ... It could.
Jamie: ... but it doesn't necessarily in that case-
Joe: But murder, you're definitely going to die by definition.
Jamie: ... Right. That's right.
Joe: You know what I mean? So the collateral damage is much higher.
Jamie: It's a game over scenario, and hatred could very well evolve into that. And even if you hated me, but you never murdered me, hatred, again I argued earlier, it's all destructive. Sin is always destructive. It's a disease. But you're the bearer of that disease, not me per se at that moment, at least so far as we can tell with our visual eyes. So it does seem to me that there is a sense in which some of the consequences on earth, locally, have a greater destructive power.
So not surprisingly, therefore, it would be the case that we will emphasize in our preaching and our teaching, just how catastrophic some kinds of sin are. And, look, it is a matter of reality in our world right now, physical sins, like stealing and killing and things like that, and sexual sins like adultery and homosexuality and things like that, do bear a destructive influence on our culture.
Look, I know it's not popular, and I know that the moment I say this there's going to be a lot of people that will just ridicule the heck out of us for saying this. But I think that we are absolutely going to reap the whirlwind in our culture for some of the decisions that people are making in this moment of sexual confusion, responding to various appetites that people have in children, and I think that we're going to reap a tremendous consequence. We're doing irreparable damage to people because of these things. And so not surprising, given the earthly consequence of some of these decisions, we're going to have to speak up, maybe a little louder in certain places, when we see or suspect that there's particular damage that could be done.
Joe: Yeah. And I think too, a combination of what you were saying before of the yes and the no to this question, is that for instance, pornography, a person could look at pornography and say, "Well, I'm not cheating on my wife." But then-
Jamie: But you are.
Joe: ... But you are in your mind. But then at the same time, you're also supporting this industry-
Jamie: That's correct. That's right.
Joe: ... And all the things that go with that-
Jamie: That's right.
Joe: ... In a way that's kind of a picture where see them both happening in the same instance.
Jamie: That's right. Yeah. So you are hurting the individuals that are involved in the filming or the production of that. You're also decaying and destroying the intimacy that you would have with your own family, not just your spouse. So this always has destructive effects. What we've got to all recognize and wrap our heads around, and this is again where we started, there's a sense absolutely... Oh, and by the way, you are breaking or you are damaging your walk with God in those moments-
Joe: Yeah, totally-
Jamie: ... And so look, that's all big stuff. That's a big deal. So for all those reasons, yes, this all has a destructive effect. And we shouldn't just look at the local consequence in that moment.
Joe: ... Right. And I feel like too, some of the ranking that we often do, it's ironic because we're talking about sin, and we're ranking it in some way. We're diminishing some sin to lift up other sin and say, "This is a super bad kind of thing." But it's also a reflection of our own sinfulness. You know what I mean? We get those priorities out of whack because we're sinful.
Jamie: Yeah. It will always be our tendency to maybe view other people's sins as greater than our own, and what we can't do is put ourselves up on pedestals and point down. What we've got to do is-
Joe: Us versus them-
Jamie: ... Yeah. We've got to stand shoulder to shoulder with people around us and say, "You know, I'll help you fight your sin if you help me fight mine," because it's present in all of us. And the schemes and the wiles of the Devil are designed custom fitted for each one of us individually, and we've got to be sober and vigilant as the Bible tells us to be regarding these things.
Joe: That's a really helpful picture, the shoulder to shoulder, I will help as you help me kind of thing. That really kind of balances everything.
Jamie: Yeah. Well, it's the image of the Body of Christ. We need each other-
Joe: Yeah, that's right.
Jamie: ... each other's burdens and sins.
Joe: All right, great.
Jamie: Hey everybody, this is Jamie and Joe, again.
Joe: If you liked this podcast, would you leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. That helps other people find it.
Jamie: And if you have any questions, we'd love to hear about them. Just go to JamieDew.com/questions and send them in that way. And we'll take a look at the most frequently asked questions and give them a shot.