Let’s talk about sin
Posted in Sin. It’s not a word most people use on a regular basis. For much of the world it’s generally relegated to Sunday mornings, but then there are others for whom it is a constant focus. It’s not a fun topic because no one wants to be called a sinner.
By most Christian standards, a sin is a wrong committed against God. A person can do wrong to another person or even to himself, but ultimately that’s a sin against God. And, according to the Bible, there is a long list of clearly defined sins, such as murder. The real challenge to Christians, and part of why there are so many different kinds of churches, is to interpret the Bible to figure out what other actions (or non-actions) might be sins, as well. For example, some Christians think the simple act of drinking alcohol is a sin, others don’t. Some Christians think sex exists only for procreation and any sexual act which isn’t intended for that purpose is sinful; others think Christians have varying amounts of liberty there. And then there’s my dad, who I love.
As a little background, while he won’t claim to be a biblical scholar, my dad has served as a deacon at several Baptist churches. He’s taught Sunday School. He’s learned from some excellent Bible scholars. He knows the scriptures.
This is the man who, on Saturday while laying tile, said, “I’ll have another Diet Coke, even though it’s sinful.” Huh? The real shock is that he was serious. Somehow he’s come to the conclusion that drinking too many Diet Cokes is a sin against his body and therefore against God.
Look, I’m not a big Diet Coke fan. I think Nutrasweet is an awful product, and I’m trying to only consume ingredients that I can visualize or at least pronounce (water, malt, yeast, and hops, for example). But there’s a huge gap between something being marginally bad for you when consumed in massive quantities and being sinful.
Is it any wonder that this man doesn’t see his church (or worse yet, the one I grew up in) as legalistic?
There was this teacher guy once. He had some pretty wise things to say. One of them was that what you eat really isn’t that important in the eyes of God. You know, my Baptist father would do well to listen to him and relax a little bit. That guy’s name was Jesus; he might be worth listening to.
