What Sin Feels Like to God

I just finished writing a paper entitled "Sin and the Christian Life". I never really thought of sin like I should. Yeah I know it is wrong, but I never thought of how wrong it actually was.... I know I'm not alone on that one....

It is in our nature to sin, but as believers in Christ we are called (commanded) to resist sin. The Holy Spirit in us gives us the ability to do so through the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17) When we are tempted to sin, there is a little process that goes on. First there is the presentation of the object of sin. We can choose to either resist it or flirt with it. If we choose to flirt with the sin, we may then decide to taste a little more. Then, before we know it, we are totally immersed in that sinful behavior and it becomes hard to turn back. The sinful behavior then becomes a part of us. This is where shame and guilt come in.

It is my personal opinion that as Christians we should experience more shame and guilt over sins than someone who doesn't believe in God or even know God. We have God's law right in front of us and therefore we should be more aware of what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. This is where some of the major problems lie with sin and the Christian life. There are many lies that Satan tells us about sin. He tells us that sin is fun. He leads us to believe that we can get away with it, that one sin is better than another, that we are not fully responsible for our actions and that there is nothing wrong with sin. After all, we are all sinners, right? Everybody sins.

Sadly in our culture today, sin is taken very lightly and even minimized to such a state that it becomes unclear why it is wrong in the first place. Don Everts in his book, The Smell of Sin, mentions that in our culture today, sin has joined the ranks of the unicorn, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Many see sin as a myth, as something created by parents as an effort to control their children (Everts 32-33) Sin is essentially forgotten. Steve Taylor is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and film director who started out in the early 80's. He is also a Christian. In his song "Whatever Happened to Sin"; Steve talks about the minimizing of sin that happens in our culture today. In his commentary on the meaning of the song he states this, "I don't always expect outsiders to understand why abortion is wrong, or why a homosexual lifestyle is incompatible with Biblical Christianity, or even why we shouldn't shrug it off when politicians lie. But as the 20th century draws to a close, the church and its leaders must remember that our mission is to make disciples of Jesus, not to 'de-sinsitize' sin."

Sin is no small matter. It is a very large one which shouldn't be ignored. It has been said that if you play with fire, you are bound to get burned. The same is true for sin. When we sin, we are in effect saying that we can get away with it and we may even believe it."Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7 NLT) Sin is not meant to be compartmentalized. There is no such thing as a hierarchy of sins. All sins are treated equally. In the eyes of God, committing murder is the same as lying. Every act of sin is a blatant act of rebellion against God. When we choose to sin, we are responsible for our own choices and therefore we must suffer the consequences for our choices. Like I stated before, sin is not something to be taken lightly. If we are to be Followers of Christ, then it is our responsibility to recognize the seriousness of sin.

Sin is not fun; it is hurtful not only to us, but also to the Father and his Son. "Just imagine you are back a home with your parents. You've slept in and are aroused from your grogginess by the rich smells of bacon and coffee. You smile and roll out of bed. Rounding the corner into the kitchen you see an intense spread on the table – all your favorites! A pile of steaming bacon on a platter in the middle, a huge carafe of orange juice (looks fresh squeezed), cheddar cheese thickly seeping out of the four egg omelet on your plate; you smile and sigh. Your family around the table is chatting as only family can. They smile as you enter the room. Then you see her. She straightens up in front of the open oven, and as she turns you see her familiar, faded lilac apron and a tray of fresh cinnamon rolls that fills the room with the hope of a good day. She walks over with a smile and a wink and sets the tray right next to your place at the table. A gentle "good morning, honey" invites you to take your seat with the family… you walk up to your mom – and spit directly in her face. That's what it is like, Jesus says. Afterward the room would be dead silent, of course. Mom would quickly close both eyes, and the spit would drip slowly down her shocked, hurt face. She would most likely raise her apron, more to hide her face than to clean it…" (Everts 49-50) There is nothing good about sin. It is blatant disregard and rebellion against a loving parent. Not the kind of disobedience that would require a stern look, but the one that results in deep anguish and weeping from someone who has done nothing but love.

In Psalm 51, the psalmist, David, pours his heart out and grieves over the sins he committed. "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you." (Psalm 51:1-12 NLT)

I believe that David, a man after God's heart, has the right response to sin. He feels horrible and sincerely wants to reconcile with God. I imagine David on his knees or laying on his stomach on the ground weeping uncontrollably over the sins he committed – over hurting God immensely. David recognizes the severity of his sins, repents, seeks forgiveness, and a right relationship with God. David humbles himself before the Lord recognizing that he needs to submit to Him and is genuinely sorry for offending God. This is what we should be doing as Christians when we confront the sin in our lives. We need to be on our knees humbling ourselves in front of God, laying at his feet and weeping uncontrollably over our sins and over hurting a loving parent who has done nothing but love us. Sin is not a small matter, it is not a myth, and it is not fun. Sin is hurtful and destructive to relationships, especially the relationship with our loving Father. This is the ugly truth about sin. "You can never be humble enough for your sin. Think as highly of your sin as you can, so it will humble you" (Johnathan Edwards)

The last line simply means this: We, yes even Christians, think so little of sin. We have minimized it and therefore we often become prideful of our sin. Thnking "I am better than that person, my sin isn't that bad" What Jonathan Edwards is essentially saying is that we need be be humble before God and humbled by our sins. So if we think highly of our sin, that is realize just how bad it really is, the we will be humbled. The Bottom line is sin is bad news...