We're pretty good at locating sin. I mean, we can see it, right? I mean, that guy being mean is bad and that kid shoplifting is bad and that mother ignoring her children is bad. We can see it. It's not that hard.
The problem is Jesus said something different. Jesus said, "Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." (Matt 15:17-19). Apparently, then, sin occurs inwardly and what we see is just the outcome.
I've wondered about that at times. For instance, I've written more than once on the notion of how we dress for church. "No, no," they tell me, "God doesn't care what you wear to church." And they're right. God does care about our attitude when we worship Him. If our attitude is cavalier, mindless, most concerned with our own comfort -- "no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom 3:18) -- that's a problem. No, not what you wear; your attitude. And what we wear does, to some extent, express our attitude. Because out of the heart comes all sorts of evil, and a lack of a sense of awe toward God is evil.
I was wondering the same thing in prayer. Now, we all know that we can pray anytime and anywhere and God hears us. Not like the thinking that you have to go to a temple or a special place or you have to perform some ritual or the like for God to hear you. We know He can hear us wherever and whenever we pray. And we like that. But our tendency is to love something, then like it fine, then take it for granted. Does our attitude in prayer become cavalier? Even arrogant? "Good news, God, I'm talking to you again. I'm sure you're pleased to hear from me 'cause I'm such a wonderful person." We have all heard, "Bow your head and close your eyes and let's pray" at some time or another. The iconic pray-er has his or her hands pressed together -- you know, prayer hands. And aren't we supposed to kneel? But we all know that these are not magical means of getting God's attention. God hears us when we pray. So praying without all that falderal isn't a sin. But is it sin to be cavalier in our attitude of prayer? If God said, "Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified," (Lev 10:3) and we've opted not to set Him apart and not to glorify Him while we pray, is that not a problem?
Dressing up for church is not required. Kneeling when we pray is not demanded. External things like this aren't the issue. Never were. But while "man looks on the outward appearance," "the LORD looks on the heart." (1 Sam 16:7). Do those externals tell you something about your own attitudes? Is a heart attitude showing up in your dress or the way you pray or ...? Sin, I believe, isn't as obvious as we might think. "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor 10:12)
4 comments:
Stan,
If I understand you correctly, you seem to be saying that Jesus taught that sin is less about what we do than about who we are. That all actions flow from our attitudes and our thoughts. It's almost like you are saying that things like our Reason, emotions, feelings, and the like might actually lead us into sin rather than away from sin. Finally, it seems like you're suggesting that Jesus teaches that we really can't fully understand the extent of anyone's sin based on their actions.
Do I have that right?
Where do you come up with these silly notions, Craig? ;)
An awesome post, Stan!
I've tried to express that concept about how we dress for Sunday service these days. Our Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes look very much like our Saturday-go-to-drinking clothes, and often not that good. In "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", Damone at one point says to Rat, "Nice shirt. Didja get it outa the hamper?" It comes to mind when I see the way some dress for church. While I can't judge their hearts, it does suggest a lack of respect and reverence for the Very Being responsible for our existence.
As one raised Roman Catholic, one of the first things that struck me upon entering a Protestant church was the absence of the "kneelers". We always knelt to pray, the concept being humbling one's self before God. It carried through to the genuflecting before the altar as well. Even as a kid I noticed how some would lean their butts on the pew while kneeling and how some wouldn't touch that knee to the floor when genuflecting. I couldn't allow myself to do it (though I understood the elderly folks take liberties). Even then it seemed disrespectful to God in my youthful mind.
Again, I don't know what's going on in the minds and hearts of other people, and I don't consider other people when I make my choices in dress and prayer. But for my part, those choices are humble expressions of my regard for the Lord...kinda of a "it's the least I can do" thing, which is absolutely true. But I think it speaks volumes if I don't.
Stan,
I just make them up out of thin air.
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