Black and White in a Grayscale World

What is sin? One might think that it was quite clear. I mean, we've got the Commandments, right? Clear as day. John wrote, "Sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). There, I mean, how much clearer can it get? Well, apparently it's not as clear as one might think.

You would think, for instance, that it was really easy for Adam and Eve. They had two rules ... only two. "Be fruitful and multiply" and "Don't eat of the fruit of that tree." As it turns out, the first legalist was Eve. When the serpent questioned God's words to her, she had already embellished. "God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die'" (Gen. 3:3). Well, Eve, no, that's not what He said. But Eve had decided that if eating it was deadly, then making a new rule that touching it was wrong -- a command from God -- sin -- well, then surely she would never eat of it. Which, of course, turned out to be a failing strategy. A few sentences later she was eating and sharing it with Adam.

And that's what we've been doing ever since. On one hand we create new rules, ostensibly to prevent us from breaking other rules, while on the other hand we break the clear, unequivocal commands we have. So ... what is sin? Oh, we're okay with "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Well, we're okay with it as long as we're not doing it. If we want to do it, well, we'll likely find a reason that that one is okay. But one would think that, given the explicit command, we'd be explicitly clear that adultery is a sin. But what about other things? We all know that lying is a sin ... except that the author of Hebrews lists the lying harlot, Rahab, as a person of faith. What's up with that? Wait, wait ... shouldn't it be clearer than that?

We live in a grayscale world. Most people view most things as "gray" -- maybe good, maybe bad. But have you ever looked at gray print? In truth it is not gray. It is a mix of black and white. When viewed from a distance, it looks gray, but, in fact, it isn't. In that sense ... we live in a grayscale world. Yeah ... it may look gray, but it's not.

Over at this blog, there is a discussion about whether or not it's a sin to go to see the movie Evan Almighty. Such confusion! One side says, "Hey, it's being marketed to Christians. What could be wrong with it?" The other side says, "It avoids Christ and makes fun of the Bible and it's wrong." Of course, there is a whole spectrum in between. And the same arguments occurred over films like Harry Potter and the like. What does the Bible say? Well, you have to know, there's nothing about whether or not to see this movie or any movie for that matter. We might try pointing to Psalm 101:3 when it says, "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes." But that likely encompasses stuff far more far reaching than Evan Almighty, and it's no command. Oh well. The most likely place to go is Romans. Paul said, "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23). So it would seem abundantly clear at this point that those who cannot see this film in good conscience would be sinning if they went to see it.

You see, it isn't gray. It is black or white. It is either of faith or it is not. You either are quite confident that it's okay or it is not. And if you are quite confident that it is not ... it is sin for you. Our problem is that we want what we can't have. We want a manual, a program, a listing. "These things are sin and these things are not. They are always sin for everyone without exception." Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it), God's way is not like that. Instead, we have a living relationship with the Most High, and each of us is an individual. There are universal negatives, sure, but there is a much broader range of things that are wrong (read "sin") for some people that are not wrong for others.

Perhaps we ought to be more careful. We ought to be careful of passing judgment on the servant of another (Rom. 14:4). We ought to be equally careful about assuring people who are struggling with what they believe to be sinful that it's okay. It may not be. We do live in a grayscale world, but each person has a particular set of black and white. Some black and white is shared. Other areas are quite individual. So when we point at sin, let's be sure it's real. And when we say it's okay, let's be sure it's real. Because I don't think it's nearly as clear as a lot of people seem to think ... in both directions.