tattoo.jpgThe other day, one of my close friends posted on Facebook  asking fellow “facebookers” about why they thought some sins were more acceptable than others. This conversation started  based on her observation of how fellow Christians  always perceive getting a tattoo as the ultimate sin in comparison to getting a piercing. My friend of course puts these in comparison based on the famous “Tattoo” scripture, Leviticus 19:28 where the bible says “you shall not make cuts of your body (in mourning) for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord.”  At this point, let me be clear, my thoughts are not even about the debate of whether  tattoos and/or piercing are a sin or not according to the word. To me there is an even bigger conversation around the fact that in our own accord we have graded all sin according to what we perceive is a bigger sin (more hectic/ unforgivable  and acceptable sin etc.) than the other.

Many of us, myself included find it so easy to place the “crown of thorns” on anyone who does what we consider “heavy weight” sin. We forget its not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick, He does  not call the righteous but sinners (Matt 9:12-13). This is what Susan Grogery calls the faulty way of thinking. We are so consumed by sin that we have made sin the centre of out Christianity. Susan says, “it is because of our  limited understanding, that we try to turn ‘salvation by faith through grace’ into salvation through conduct“. Everyone is trying to shout about what they do that others are not doing to earn the right to heaven and the Perfect Christian Medal forgetting it is about who we become through salvation.

So maybe you ask yourself, who do we become then.  Who we become is entirely dependent on Christ, we follow Him in His ways. In Matthew 11:28-29, He says “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”   You will notice, He does not say “Come to me, all you who’ sin  is socially acceptable “, I reckon this is because Jesus knew we were all born into sin, and all sin is equal in His eyes. Sin which He wrote off on the cross the day we accepted Him as our Lord and savior.  This is the day we call, a salvation day, the day you realize you truly cannot do life on your own and you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).  Old things are passed away, the new becomes into being.  This is a clean write off, unconditional.

The amazing thing about this write off is the fact that its not linked to any weighting of  sin, Jesus Himself made the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross to save all sinners (this includes thieves, murderers, liars  and sexual offenders equally ). Jesus does not look at the size of the sin or the perceived weighting but he looks at the heart of the sinner. This is such a profound thing for me because the heart is truly  the deepest mystery to human beings, no matter how smart we are and how many degrees we have the heart is the one thing we cannot understand. Its a rare, deep mystery between one and his/her maker.

Who we become on our own and amongst others is perhaps the closest reflection of our hearts.  Who we become at the face of sin is who we are.

Growing up in the Catholic church,  it was engraved in my heart that sin is not only in the actions but also in the lack thereof.  We sin in our thoughts, in our words, in what we do and what we fail to do.

I therefore wonder…   What weighting will you put on this?  Failing to tell someone about the salvation and saving a life…

I too am still to answer this very question for myself, for every opportunity I have missed. It continues to be my greatest fear to be a socially acceptable Christian, while I totally derail from the greater vision I should carry.

As my pastor would say, the harvest is plenty…

ChurchGirl

LM.