Sins of Our Own Choosing

We all choose our personal sins.

Not precisely by choice, mind you.  We all seem to have predispositions to certain ones.  But there are very few of us that can seem to pack all potential sins into one package.  And even within that, we tend to have a certain core of sins that we are most likely to fall into or spend most of our time battling.

Interestingly (but perhaps not surprisingly), these tend to be the sins that we do not speak out about.  Sure, we can protest something like immorality or excessive greed but we just as soon tend to not focus on the sins that perhaps we practice ourselves:  gluttony or gossip or covetousness.  In fact, it can often be amazing to what lengths we will go to justify our own sins while still crying out the phrase "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at Hand" - we will say something like "Well, it is not that I am coveting that car that my friend has, it is just that I really think it is nice and should be something I work towards" while we ignore the fact that the car is on our minds 24 hours a day, filling our thoughts and our aspirations.

We do not fool anyone, of course - especially the world, which has keen antennae for hypocrisy.  Put aside the failings of those that cry out against things and then are found to participate in them:  just the simple fact that we as Christians portray ourselves to be against sin - but not the sins we like - is enough to destroy our ability to carry a witness forward.  To this extent the old phrase is true, "I am okay with Christ - it is His followers that bother me."

We walk a fine line as Christians, moving between the fact that we are saved but not yet yet completely glorified.  As a result, we find ourselves in the position of crying out against sin even as we ourselves continue to battle the sin in our lives. But it is one thing to call out against sin in general, while it is another to call out our own sin first while also presenting the Gospel, that all have fallen short of the glory of God (yes, even those of us that are presenting it) and all of us sin - but that there is a way of hope and redemption.

We mistake our roles sometimes:  we are not to be traffic officers  on the road of life,  pulling people over when they exceed the law.  Instead, we are to be construction workers and roadside assistance, guiding people around areas where the road is weak or being repaired and fixing their cars when they have a problem and are on the side of the road.  The first implies that we are the law. The second implies that we are not the the law but merely helping them to get where they need to go:  the road is not ours, the laws are not ours - we use the road and obey the laws as they do.  There is no superiority, only assistance and guidance as we all travel the road together.

But to accomplish this - any of this - it takes a simple admission from us:  sin is sin. No matter what sin it is.  Even if it is the sin of our own choosing.