"Little Sins"

We are now at the beggining of the season of Lent. Lent is observed by millions of Christians around the world. Lent is a 40-day solemn Christian liturgical season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It serves as a period of preparation to commemorate Jesus Christ's temptation in the desert and passion. It is also a time for reflection, repentance, and spiritual renewal. Repentance naturally implies a genuine godly sorrow for and turning from sin, and to seek a closer realationship with God. But do we see sin for what it truly is?

C. S. Lewis’, Screwtape Letters, is an allegory of how the Devil, and his minions seek to tempt mankind away from their Creator. In one instance, a senior devil named, Screwtape, is giving advice to, Wormwood, a junior devil, on how best to tempt someone:

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.[1]

When it comes to some “small” sins like cheating, lying, and stealing, some people see nothing to be concerned about; it’s a gentle slope, and that is exactly as the devil would have it.

But when we these sins are seen in everyday context, we can see their consequences much more dramatically. Take for example cheating. It may look like a “small” sin, but it could have devasting consequences. “Do you think it’s okay to cheat to win an election?” Of course you don’t, or I hope you don’t, and neither do I.

However, results from a recent survey by veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen have revealed that America’s “elite”—high-income, well-educated, urban progressives—think much differently on this topic.

In fact, what this poll uncovered was so shocking that Rasmussen himself called it “the most terrifying poll results I’ve ever seen.”

Here’s what he found: Thirty-five percent of America’s progressive elite say they are okay with cheating to win an election. And it gets worse. Among politically active progressive elites, the number of those okay with cheating to win jumps to an astonishing 69%. That’s compared to only 7% of ordinary Americans who are okay with cheating.[2]

These findings are frightening. But sadly, they’re not surprising.

Even though the opinions of the elite 1% are totally out of step with ordinary Americans, they control many of our culture’s power levers and believe they are justified in using any means—honest or not—to force society into conformity with their radical progressive views. In this context “small” sins like cheating can have powerful and abusive outcomes.

Unfortunately, the elite think they are more intelligent than you, morally superior to you, and should be the ones who determine a nation’s future. And they will cheat to achieve this outcome. We are not all equal as some people would have us believe. George Orwell in, Animal Farm, put it this way, "some animals are more equal than others". Orwell was pointing out through allegory the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.

Sin is always a problem whether committed by the “morally superior” elites of society or by the rest of us. And sin is always particularly dangerous when it is trivialized. When we trivialize sin here’s what happens:

First, we will ignore the fact that sin is a transgression of God’s law. John noted that “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When we fail to keep God’s law, thus engaging in lawlessness, we sin. John made this clear: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).

Second, we will forget that sin separates us from God, and that’s no trivial matter. Isaiah told the people, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). The reason why sin causes a separation between man and God is because God cannot be in fellowship with sin. John wrote, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

To those who trivialize sin or think God might give them a pass, the Apostle John said, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:8-10). And yes, lying, cheating and stealing are sins that need to be confessed.

Third, sin will become our master, and we will be a slave to sin. Jesus explained, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). The author of the boof of Hebrews described sin as something that “so easily entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1). When sin is seen as inconsequential, the Devil will soon have us become slaves to it. We erroneously reason – so what’s the big problem with a little sin, until sin is a big problem?

Fourth, sin ultimately leads to death – After warning about being slaves of sin (Romans 6:6, 12-14, 16), Paul describes sin’s payday: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In that statement he was describing the punishment of spiritual death and eternal separation from God. We know this because he contrasted it with the “free gift of God [which] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

If we trivialize sin, we will see no reason to avoid it or overcome it. At that point, we will have become “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). We should want to avoid this outcome at all costs, but to do so, we need to understand how sin becomes trivialized in the first place. Let’s look at some influences in our lives that may lead us to trivialize sin:

Culture – James admonished us to “keep [ourselves] unstained by the world” (James 1:27). We are to live by a higher standard, following the perfect example of Jesus (1 Peter 2:21-22). Though we live in the world, we are not to behave like the world. As Paul said, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).” But if we adopt the lifestyle and mindset of the wicked culture around us, sin will soon seem trivial.

Influence – The New Testament warns us to guard against evil influences. Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). There can be no fellowship between “light” and “darkness”; therefore, we are to “come out of their midst and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). If we allow sinful influences in our lives, we may eventually start to view sin as normal and acceptable. We will believe that if everyone around us is sinning, it must be okay.

Conscience – When someone sees sin as a trivial matter, it is because their conscience is seared, and they no longer feel guilty for their sin. Paul warned Timothy that a seared conscience results in apostasy: “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith…seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). We need to have a conscience that allows us to feel guilt for sin because this “godly sorrow” will lead us to “repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). Without feeling guilt, repentance will be impossible. Therefore, we must train our conscience by the word of God (Hebrews 5:14) so that we understand the terribleness of sin and do everything we can to avoid it.

Public Flaunting– Sins are often kept private because there is a sense of shame associated with them, at least to some people. This was what Jesus referred to when He said, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:20).

Yet when sins are committed publicly without shame, it is especially dangerous because the ones engaged in the sinful practices have reached the point in which they no longer “know how to blush” (Jeremiah 6:15). This lack of shame indicates two things: (1) they do not care what God thinks about their sin and (2) they do not care what man thinks about it either. When one reaches this point in which they willfully sin and “put [the Lord] to open shame,” the author of the book of Hebrews explained that “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance” (Hebrews 6:6).

In summary, sin, even “small” sins, are a violation of God’s law. It makes fellowship with God impossible. If not confessed, they can cause us to become enslaved to our sin and ultimately lead to our eternal damnation. We must never view sin as something inconsequential and of no concern.

God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He must punish those guilty of sin.

Look around you and you will probably find yourself concluding like Malcom Muggeridge did, “The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.”

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[1] C. S. Lewis, Reflections: Small Sins?, C. S. Lewis Institute, https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/reflections-september-2015/, September 2015.

[2] Scott Rasmussen, @daily Signal.com, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ODKdZpL7XlU