The Worst of the Sins

Drinking, smoking, drug use, swearing, loose sexual morals, some may even say dancing are sins that Christians should avoid. The idea is that these sins somehow have greater impact on us than other sins. That is these sins in particular prevent us from being Good Christian folk.  The truth is Christians often debate which sin is the greatest or worst or most unpardonable. And many hold to the answer that all sins are mortal sins in that they separate us from God and a chance at eternal life.  This however may not be entirely true, and may simply be an easy out. Proverbs 6:16–19 lists sins that God hates:

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

 You do not see drinking, smoking, or loose sexual morals listed among them, Indeed, the sins listed in this verse from Proverbs deal for the most part with things that we do to others.  Of them only haughty eyes might be a sin that we commit towards ourselves. There are other places in the Holy Bible that indicate not all sins are the same. John 9:41 seems to indicate that learning of Jesus and rejecting him warrants greater punishment than those who sin with no knowledge of the Savior:

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

That is the sin of non-belief is sufficient to keep one out of Heaven. You see it mentioned again in the following verses:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him

should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)

 Finally, there is one sin that is said to be unforgivable, a sin that falls outside God's Grace to pardon. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to commit an eternal sin, one that simply will not go away:

 "Truly I tell you, all sins and blasphemes will be forgiven for the sons of men. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin. He said this because they [the Pharisees] were saying, 'He has an evil spirit'." (Mark 3:28-30)

Going by the Bible then, there are indeed sins that are worse than others, although all sins separate us from God. Generally, those sins considered worse in some way are either those that express disbelief in Jesus as the Messiah, or the extreme of not believing in God or the Holy Spirit. These are followed by sins that deal with how we treat others. What many Protestant Americans consider unpardonable sins such as drinking, partying, smoking, drug use actually fall behind these other two sets of sin. Therefore when we want to think of a clean living life. we should not be concentrating necessarily on not drinking, smoking, or using illicit drugs, but instead look at our relationship with God and others.

We must ask the questions, do we truly accept Jesus Christ as our Savior? Do we truly believe in the Holy Spirit? Do we see God as our Father in Heaven?  And after those questions we must look to how we treat others. Do we truly love our neighbors as we do ourselves? Do we seek to treat others as we would wish to be treated? Do we try not to make judgements of others' sins and shortcomings?

One thing I have learned since returning to Christianity is that a good Christian is one that loves God, and loves others, and believes in all his or her heart that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. If one can do those things, I feel all sort of things people may feel are wrong, God will more swiftly forgive. I have said it time in and time out, it is how we treat others that  is at the heart of our religion. Throughout the New Testament Jesus talks about how we should help the poor, and be kind to others. My Church's mission I think sums it up all nicely:

Jesus is Lord!

Love God - Love Others!

The Question is not, "Do You Believe in Santa?"

Every year at Christmas time, one of the aching questions for children is, "Do you believe in Santa?" Believing in Santa is one of those hallmarks of childhood. That a child believes in Santa is a indicator that they are still indeed a child, naive with a bit of innocence, things we as parents want to keep as long as possible. As adults though, the most important question at Christmas should be, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Oh, I have no doubt many, if  not most of us would answer, "yes," but do we truly believe?

You see there is a difference between thinking someone is real, and truly believing in them. I know for a fact that President Trump is real, but do I believe in him? Since this blog is about religion and not politics I will not answer that question, but I will say that one can believe someone is or was a real person without ever believing in them. The word, "believe" comes from Old English,  belyfan "to have faith or confidence." It was the word that the newly converted Anglo-Saxons chose to describe their relationship with their new found Savior, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. You see they had faith in him, they had confidence in him as their Savior. They knew with their conversion to Christianity that their souls were saved from eternal damnation. And what's more they knew that their souls were saved by doing what Jesus asked of them. They knew if they did things Jesus' way, that they were being lead to an afterlife of bliss in Heaven.

So answering the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?" is not one so easily answered. Yes, I think many if not most of us think he is real, but do we truly believe his way is best? Look at the world around us. Look at how people treat other people. Look at how you yourself treat others. Can we truly say that any of us believe in Jesus? Can you say we are confident that practicing his teachings will make this a better world? Or do we believe that selfish opportunist practices are the best way to

lead life?

How many times have you seen people look judgingly down on the downtrodden? Instead of lending a helping hand, too many times people ask questions like, "Why don't they just get a better job?" or "They would be better off without all those children?" We do not see it as our place to care for others. We think they should look out for themselves.

America is a nation of Individualists, we are not a Union, or a Community. We are, I fear, a nation that encourages people to lookout for their own self interests. And this flies in the face of what Jesus taught. While we glorify those that have achieved wealth or fame by looking out for themselves in the drive to hoard wealth, Jesus told us instead to look after those who need it most.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). 

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:12-14).

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise (Luke 3:11).

By following those that have sought material gain, hoard wealth, and encourage us to do the same we are not believing in Jesus. To believe in Jesus is to hold dear to our hearts the Sacrifice He made for us to save us from our sins, and in holding his Sacrifice dear to our hearts, to practice what he taught. If we follow the ways of the World, we are saying that the ways of the Koch Brothers Charles and David H., and George Soros are better than those of our own Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are saying that stepping on the disenfranchised to get ourselves ahead is the way to live life, and that the way of Jesus is one for suckers and those gullible enough to believe all those hard luck stories of the poor, sick, and lame. And in doing so we are not believing in Jesus. We are not holding faith, being confident that what he taught is the way we should behave.Instead we have chosen the way of the World as being somehow superior in seeking our rewards. We are saying that those that encourage us to seek material gain at all costs and hoard material wealth know better than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in choosing to believe in the World, we are also choosing not to believe in Jesus.

And if you consider yourself a True Christian, this is very sad as being selfish, stepping on others to get ahead may get us what we want in the short term (and that short term may be our entire lives), but in the long term, that is, all eternity it is the way of Jesus that will reap the greatest reward.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (John 3:18)

Believing in Jesus means so much more than just believing he was a real person, or even thinking he is the Savior, it means having faith in that practicing what he taught us about leading our lives, about how to treat others is the way to eternal Salvation, and that the opportunist ways of the World are a sure path to Hell. So when you are asked the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?" ask yourself, "Do I hold faith, have confidence that Jesus' teachings are the best way to live my life? Or do I believe instead in the wicked ways of the World?" Do you BELIEVE in Jesus?

Christmastide Huntsville Missouri 2018

After my divorce, I found it very difficult to be happy at Christmas. Even though I was pagan, we celebrated a holiday at Christmas time called Yule. Many of our current Christmas traditions come from that pagan holiday. Things such as drinking wassail or eggnog, eating ham, decking the halls with greenery, even gift giving stem from Yule. So all through those years I was pagan I celebrated Christmas in a fashion. When I returned to Christianity Christmas took on a new meaning. It was the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas symbolized leaving my sinful, pagan past behind, and looking forward to a life as a man reborn.

Those first few years as a Christian again, Christmas was all about the Christmas lights, Christmas dinner, Christmas carols, and giving gifts. I enjoyed helping decorate Downtown Huntsville for Christmas.I decorated the house for Christmas. I went around and looked at the Christmas lights. I listened to Christmas carols on my car stereo. Now, with a new job, new place, and new girlfriend I am finding I do not have time for many of those things. And you know what? I do not miss them. Many of these were things I also enjoyed as a pagan, and had little bearing on me as a Christian. They were just superficial trappings that come with a winter holiday. No, what I enjoy now is time with my church family, my friends, and my family. It is the sense of togetherness, of oneness with my Church and with Christ that brings me happiness. And it is not just that, it is also in the way I treat strangers.

You see, people behave differently at Christmas. It is the time for the highest giving to charities. It is the time when folks truly believe in Peace on Earth and try to practice Good Will to Men. People are kinder, gentler, and nicer to one another. Oh, you still get those rude individuals unhappy Wal-Mart is out of the toy their child wanted, or the one irked because someone got to "their parking space" before they did, but for the most part many people do do unto others as they would have them do unto themselves. And I am no different. My behavior changes. I treat people better as Christmas approaches.

So what do we have to learn from this? The way many of us behave at Christmastide is the way we should behave year round. In essence, we as Christians should behave as if Christmas were every, single day of the year. We should be kind and considerate to our fellow man. We should not judge others. We should take time out of our day to be nice to those around us. We should attend church. Think of how nice the world around us could become if we just believed in Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men everyday of the year?

Currently, it is my "weekend." I put weekend in quotation marks because my weekend comes in the middle of the workweek, I work the weekend shift at my job. So I am spending this last "weekend" of mine before Christmas getting ready. Yesterday, I did the bulletins for the Last Sunday in Advent and the Christmas Eve services at the Huntsville United Methodist Church. I have planned out my last minute Christmas shopping. I am in the last stages of getting ready for my Savior's birthday. With Christmas Day all that work will end, but one thing I do not hope ends, is the joy I get from being kind to my fellow human beings whether they be Christian, Jew, Muslim, pagan, white, black, yellow... to me kindness is what being Christian is all about, and not just something we should do at Christmas time. We should act as if it is Christmas everyday with joy at the birth of our Savior, and the drive to be kind to others. I think everyone's New Year's Resolution should be, act as if everyday were Christmas, and carry the joy and kindness of the Christmas season throughout the year.