Not a person in this room has to struggle with the temptations that other people have. And every person in this room does in fact have to struggle against the temptations that present themselves, daily, to each.
Now as we all seek to establish our walk with Christ, one of the perennial temptations will be to evaluate ourselves based upon our relative freedom from the snares that have caught others. All of us could be hanging upside down, every ankle ensnared by the devil’s traps, with all of us gently bobbing, and our temptation would still be to think, “Well, at least I wasn’t caught by a gray rope like he was.” Or “at least I wasn’t caught by a three/quarter inch rope.” Well, good job all around! Shall we have prizes?
The lustful man tells himself that at least he is not proud. The proud man tells himself that at least he is not lazy. The vain woman is pleased that she is, at least, not a slattern. The diligent woman despises the one who keeps a low tone.
Now there is a standard that applies to all. The realization for us ought not to be a relativistic one. But the standard that applies to all is the holy Scripture, as interpreted and applied by Christ. And there is no way to place anyone else under that standard without coming under it yourself. There is a way to quote snippets out of the Bible, about lust or laziness, covetousness or pride, whatever the other guy is doing, in order to manufacture a convenient standard that has the thin veneer of holiness all over it. So as we guard our hearts against this, remember that we must bow before Christ, and He is not a territorial god. He is the Lord of heaven and earth.
“Upside down gently bobbing” reminds me of the WWJD movement and always thinking, “What would Jesus do? How about not stepping into this trap in the first place and having to chew His own foot off?” Just saying . On the bright side, He is really good at setting the captives free, over and over again if necessary.
The lustful man tells himself that at least he is not proud… Which is the point of the parable of the man who cried for mercy. But I find myself noting that certain sins do not hold the same temptation for me. I don’t glory in the fact I am not a alcoholic because I am aware of my own sins which are big enough of themselves. So I think a right view of my own sin is not necessarily inappropriate. I guess where this gets murky is when we see our own sins as small compared to others as… Read more »
I think sin is graded too, but a big problem is that we can’t always see the heart. Gossip for example is often perceived as less sinful than murder and yet I’ve seen gossip and bullying drive people to suicide. I suspect God sees it too. In the physical world we would perceive actual murder as much worse than simply wishing death upon someone and yet the bible shows us that is not how God judges sin at all. So in my mind, for all intents and purposes, a sin is a sin is a sin. I cannot see the… Read more »
Totally, Bethyada. I don’t get much credit for not losing my temper when I can’t imagine what that even feels like. So often what we think of as our virtues are the direct result of temperament and heredity. Or our medication.
Nail on the head! Brilliant. Thanks.
I once heard Joyce Meyer say that she wasn’t tempted to rob the zippy mart when she drove by. She went on to explain that when she was in prison visiting prisoners, one of them said that he couldn’t help mentally casing every zippy mart he went past. He thought that he could tell to within $20 how much a robbery would be worth. I don’t even think about zippy marts when I drive by unless I’m thirsty and want something to drink. This story has been helpful to me when I think about my sin and other people’s sin.