Is there too much focus on sin?

There seems to be a hyper focus throughout much of social media regarding armchair theologians highlighting specific sins and coming across as condemning of those individuals that are included in whatever category that is the focus. It’s easy to point point sins when they don’t apply to you.

It’s easy to call adultery a sin without exceptions when you have not committed adultery. It’s easy to call homosexual acts a sin when you are not a homosexual. How many of those arm chair theologians have you heard speak about gluttony or gossip? I dare to say there are not many, if any, individuals that have a large following on social media often speak about the sin of gluttony, Why? Because we all enjoy a good donut and a plate full of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. 

There are not many of them that speak about the sin of gossip. Why? Because we all partake in fingerprinting and disguising gossip as a “prayer request” at times. What about jealousy? How many arm chair theologians speak about jealously or greed being a sin? I dare to say there are not many. Why? Most of us struggle with the “I wish I had….” Or “How do they possibly have ….. when I work harder than they do?” Better yet, what about the “I should have had that job or that promotion. They don’t deserve it. They haven’t earned it and I’m smarter than her”. 

It seems that there are specific categories of sin that are more often focused on rather than others. Now, one may say there are sins that are more serious than others and yes, indeed, you are correct. That does not diminish the seriousness of venial sins. Jesus spoke about sin as serious and He meant all sin. He did not say that smaller sins are not as important and to not worry about them. 

The discrepancies about consistency and focus begs the question: “Is there too much focus on sin?” The answer? Yes….and no. “Too much” is relative and difficult to define. As a result, it is almost impossible to give a definitive answer as to if there is too much focus on sin throughout this culture and specifically on social media. What is truth is that there is not enough focus on forgiveness, mercy, and grace. 

There are a few different dynamics when it comes to forgiveness. Most of us do not like to think of the fact we are required to forgive others as well as telling others the truth of God’s forgiveness.

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.’ (Luke 6:36-37)

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

There is another sin that should be spoke about if others want to focus on sin. What about the sin of unforgiveness?

There is a balance between how much we speak about sin and how much we express the love and forgiveness of Christ. If that is out of balance then we risk becoming a stumbling block to someone coming to Christ as opposed to being drawn near to them or we risk someone thinking Jesus opens a door to doing whatever you want to do because he will forgive you. 

The key to maintaining this delicate balance is to be transparent. We have to be honest and transparent with ourselves, but we also must be willing to speak about the unspoken. We must be willing to speak about the sins that seem forbidden to speak about in public and the sins that might rub others the wrong way and upset individuals that are often those which cause priests to tip toe around offending them. 

Do we have to tell others that what they are doing is sin? Absolutely. Do we need to share with the there is forgiveness and mercy with Christ? Absolutely. The problem is when we seem to become hyper focused on sins, or specific sins, then we ostracize those that Jesus wants to forgive and wants to extend eternal life to them. If we refuse to call something a sin then we risk being individuals that cause others to go to hell because they do not know of the need to repent. 

The problem in our society is we do not like balance when it comes to topics or views. We also tend to make sin a political platform issue and not an eternal life issue. We have become a society that associates abortion and LGBTQ with a political platform rather than sin that prevents them from eternal life. Conservatives highlight that these actions are sin, but do we really detail what “sin” means and what it is? Not really. That is why it becomes a political platform rather than something much more severe. 

The only way you can focus too much on sin is when sin is the only thing you are focused on  or when you ignore other sins that apply to more people and you do not have any conversation about the mercy and forgiveness for those sins,