If you were to ask Christians if God hates sin, I am sure you would get near universal acceptance that He does. Though there are many ways people sin, for some reason when Christians address sin, whether in our culture or even in the church, we can easily get tunnel vision. By this I mean we zero in on one sin and treat it like it is the only sin that matters. When this happens, we can even get outraged over certain sins while overlooking others. We tell ourselves this group of sins is worse than this other group.
Maybe some people do this intentionally, or maybe we don’t pay as close attention to Scripture as we should.
A classic example comes from the book of Proverbs. Now, before I share the Scripture, allow me to give some context. Consider, for instance, the issue of abortion. When many Christians talk about abortion, it is common for them to mention how God hates hands that shed innocent blood. I have heard this Scripture quoted many times. This comes from Proverbs, and when people quote it, they are quoting it correctly, because this is what the Bible says.
The problem is there is more information in this passage that has been left out. Allow me to share with you the passage where this verse comes from. I want you to pay attention to the list of things God hates.
“There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community”(Proverbs 6:16-19).
There is a lot more going on in these verses than just hands that shed innocent blood. As you can see, there are a few things listed here that God hates – seven in all.
The reason these things matter is we must consider God’s word in its entirety. We cannot selectively choose what we think God is most angry at and simply ignore or downplay the others. That’s not how it is supposed to work.
In the Proverb mentioned above, if we are going to be true to the text, then we can say that God hates a person who stirs up conflict in the community just as much as the person who sheds innocent blood. There is no difference because God hates all these things equally. There is no indication from these verses that God puts a higher ranking on one of these sins over another. We may try to create a disparity or hierarchy between these things, but God doesn’t.
When we attempt to categorize sin, with some being worse than others, we can become justifiers. We condemn one group of sinful activity, but we justify others. When someone commits a sin we deem as worse, we let them know and let them have it. However, someone engaging in other types of sinful behaviors, those we consider not as bad, get a pass for their actions.
One area we see this play out is in the political arena. How often do you hear people get upset or talk about how anti-God a policy is, especially for the candidate or party they don’t like? That happens quite a bit. However, let their chosen party or candidate display anti-God actions, behaviors, or policies and no one says a word. The reason often comes back to the idea that this one isn’t as bad as that one or it’s the lesser of two evils. However, God’s word does not address sin in that fashion and neither should we. When you see or practice these types of behaviors, then we must ask ourselves, are we as committed to God’s word as we say we are?
Let me remind you that we are Christ’s ambassadors, and we represent Him. We don’t have the luxury of being selective over the sins we condemn and the sins we justify. When we do this, we look hypocritical and weaken our testimony.
Is there a reason we behave this way? One reason is found in what Jesus said in Matthew.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).
It is easy to see the speck in other people’s eyes. However, when we focus so much attention on the speck, it can cause us to avoid or dismiss the logs in our own eyes. If we are going to allow Scripture to work in our hearts, then we cannot afford to do this any longer. We must judge the log and the speck equally.
Sometimes the smallest acts of disobedience (which is sin by the way), can come with the gravest consequences. After conquering Jericho, Achan kept some of the devoted things for himself. The Bible says Achan violated God’s covenant, stole and lied (Joshua 7:11). Most people would not put stealing and lying high on the list of judgeable offenses. However, Israel was routed by Ai, a nation they should have had no trouble defeating. This happened because of Achan’s sin. Eventually, Achan’s sin cost him and his family their lives.
Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter about how much money they received when they sold their property. Both died because of this seemingly “harmless” sin. That’s why we must be careful about how we treat sin and not think one sin is more egregious than another. That is not how God views sin and we should not view it that way either.
I was engaged in conversation with a gentleman who was angry and espoused his frustration with a specific sin. He hated this sin. Not only did he hate the sin, he also hated the sinner and had genuine anger towards anyone who engaged in it. In our conversation, he talked about how God is going to bring judgment on the people who commit this sin, and he was even praying for God to bring judgment quickly.
This is a prime example of the logs and specks. He was so angry at these “sinners” that he could not see how his own anger was causing him to sin and not producing the righteousness God desires. Because of his anger, he had no compassion, no grace, and honestly no love. The people committing this sin were his enemies, and he hated them. Yet, somehow, he felt his anger was justified.
While defending his position, he referred to this passage in 1 Corinthians.
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
This man’s vitriol was directed at one group on this list, but somehow, he missed that there are ten types of people mentioned here who will not inherit the kingdom of God. By focusing so much on one sin, he falsely believed this one type of sin is more egregious in God’s sight. However, since all the sins mentioned here will prevent you from inheriting the kingdom of God, it appears they are all equally condemning in God’s eyes.
As followers of Christ, our integrity is at stake, and we must avoid hypocrisy at all costs. The only way to do this is to allow God’s word to be the standard and call all sin what it is – sin. We must be careful that we don’t elevate one sin while downplaying others, because this is when we look hypocritical, which is not a good trait for those who represent Christ.
Regardless of how big or small you think a sin is, God does not see it that way. If he says he hates something, then we should take that seriously and not gloss over it because we think another sin is greater. If we don’t do this, then we weaken our ability to influence morality in the culture and the salt we are supposed to be starts to lose its saltiness.
Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.
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