Respectable Sins Chapters 2,3
Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 11:43 AM by David Zavadil
As we continue our reading through Bridge's book, Respectable Sins, we come to Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter two is titled, "The Disappearance of Sin." In this chapter, Dr. Bridges discusses the church and sin. He addresses what I see is a major problem in the Evangelical Church today, the down playing of sin. We have mastered the ability to rationalize anything away from the microscopic to the grandiose In many Churches, it is a "no no" to preach about sin. It is a federal offense to speak of any sin outside of homosexuality and abortion. To actually intimate that the congregation might be a sinner, even worse a big sinner could result in a pastor being forced out. In this brief chapter Dr. Bridges address the issue of our pushing sin to the side. "And, sad to say, the concept of sin among many conservative Christians has been essentially redefined to cover the obviously gross sins of our society. "(pg 22) It is not a pretty picture of the Church or of individual believers that is painted in this chapter.
Why do you think that too many of us sweep sin aside so easily? Why do we see sin in various classes, little, heinous, violent, etc..? How does your congregation address the subject of sin?
Chapter 3 is titled The Malignancy of Sin. Using the picture of cancer, the author begins to create an image of the depth of sin in our lives. "Sin is a spiritual and moral malignancy." (p23) Building on this picture of cancer, Dr. Bridges shares from his personal life the deceitfulness and subtlety of cancer and the relation to sin. "The acceptable sins are subtle in the sense that they deceive us into thinking they are not so bad, or not thinking of them as sins, or even worse, not thinking of them at all." ( pg 25)
These subtle sins, often forgotten or pushed aside, affect more than just the person committing them. We read that when we commit such sins, any sin for that matter, we rebel against God. Using the Biblical story of Nathan and David, we learn that when we sin we demonstrate that we despise the Word of God and God Himself. Our sin, even our most subtle of sins, grieves the Lord. On page 29, Dr. Bridges makes these convicting statements. "This means that all of our rebellion, all of our despising of God and His law, all of our grieving His Holy Spirit, all of our presuming on His grace, all of our sin, is done openly in the very presence of God. It's as if we are acting out all of our sins before Him as He sits on His royal throne."
How do you respond to this statement, "You are not as bad as you think you are... you are worse?" What do you want to do when you find yourself struggling with subtle sins? What are those sins that are the hardest to deal with in your life?
It is now your turn. For this discussion to work, you must, well, discuss. Click on the comments link below and leave comments for all to read and discuss.
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