Victimless crimes

In my sermon on Sunday, I spent quite a bit of time talking about the idea that the real problem in the world is you, the individual sinner.

Sorry, let me back up a bit.  You, as the individual sinner, probably aren't the biggest problem in the world.  In the same way as you, average joe polluter, aren't the biggest polluter in the world.  If you think about the immensity of the world, and how much carbon dioxide people toss up into the atmosphere, you may think that your piddling amount of carbon is really not that impressive or that big of a deal.

But the issue is not how much do other people pollute, the issue is what can you do about it?  You can spend your whole life worrying about how much other people pollute and waiting for them to fix it, or you can do something about the only polluter you can fix.  And that would be you.

It's the same with sin.  We spend a lot of time worrying about what the biggest problem in the world is today.  And for many of us, it's something that other people do.  Internet pornography, or rude kids, or the wars oveseas, or extremism, or rampant avarice, or the jazz music.

But the problem is, and always has been, that the Christian faith doesn't lend itself well to that kind of approach.  It's not as straightforward as all that.  The thing about the Christian belief is it's not an instruction manual for what everyone else is doing wrong.  That would be easy, and fun, but it wouldn't be Christianity.  But that's pretty much how we as Christians approach it.   We treat the Bible, God, everything about the whole thing, as a big long list that tells everyone else what they're doing wrong.  But there's a significant snag with that.  That's how everyone else approaches it too.  And if everyone on earth seriously believed that the problem with everything was everyone else, well, we'd be at a bit of an impasse.  And are you ready for the horrible truth of it?

We are.

If you wonder why the world is in such a rummy spot, well, this is sort of why.  Because everyone, deep down, believes that the real problem is the speck in the eyes of others.  And if something is ever going to change, then it's up to someone else, usually everyone else, to fix that.  Well, Jesus talks a bit about that, talks about it in terms of, as you may have guessed, specks and logs.  

3“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:3-5, NASB.

Yes.  We hear this, but how rarely do we apply this to not just us, but what is wrong with the world today in general.  Yes, there are some thing we shouldn't do, and some things that we know are trouble, but let's give ourselves some pause for thought.  There's a real good chance you think of sin the way I do.  You think of sin as something you do that hurts someone else.  It's sort of like sports penalties:  You're way more likely to get a penalty, or a more severe penalty, if someone gets hurt.  If there's blood.  And this thinking spills over into any sort of discussion of sin at all:  As long as nobody gets hurt, as long as nobody bleeds or cries, it's okay.  It's a victimless crime.

And so all the stuff we do that is dishonest, or cruel, the stuff we do that is petty, that is vindictive, those thoughts, those emotions, those words we have that are spiteful or wrathful, as long as nobody gets hurt, then there's no problem, right? The real problem with the world is out there somewhere, because we're not really doing anything wrong.

But here's something to think about:  If you can't find a victim in your crimes, then guess what: You're looking in the wrong place.  It reminds me of a very nerdy episode of a very nerdy show:  Doctor Who - Snakedance.

(A ceremonial helmet with a crest of five faces is on a display stand.)
AMBRIL: Now take this, for example. It dates from the middle Sumaran era and unusually is mentioned quite specifically in the Legend. Oh, there can be no doubt. The reference is to the Six Faces of Delusion. Now count. One, two, three, four, five. You will observe there are five faces, not six as the Legend would have it. Now, my point is this. I do find it quite extraordinarily difficult to take seriously a Legend that cannot even count accurately. Of course, artistically speaking, it's an entirely different matter. The piece is exquisite. An undoubted masterpiece.
DOCTOR: What is it?
AMBRIL: Hmm? Headdress.
DOCTOR: Try it on.
AMBRIL: What?
DOCTOR: Try it on.
AMBRIL: Certainly not. Whatever for?
DOCTOR: Please. I want to show you something, then I'll go and leave you in peace.
AMBRIL: Very well.
(Ambril puts on the headdress.)
AMBRIL: Well?
DOCTOR: Now, count the faces again.
AMBRIL: Do as he says.
CHELA: One, two, three, four, five.
DOCTOR: And one makes six. The sixth Face of Delusion is the wearer's own. That was probably the idea, don't you think?
AMBRIL: Get out! Go on, get out!

We spend a lot of time looking for victims that we hurt with our sin, and sometimes, most of the times, that victim is us.  What we find is that in every way, in every decision we make, we enter more and more into the process of changing ourselves.  Your sin begins as something you do that you know you shouldn't.  It ends by becoming a part of you, which is what makes it so hard to repent of.  After a while, you feel like you are being called upon to repent of being yourself.  You have been changed by your sin so much, you were so much of the victim, that you never noticed that you were changing from being you to becoming your sin.

But there is good news, of course.  You may ask what is left after your sin has been taken away.  You may ask what remains once your sin has been dropped off and your goodness can shine through. Well, what remains is the real you.  The you that was always good, the you that God died for. More you than you can be right now, so clouded and turned by your sin that you are. God came to earth to make you perfect.  To forgive you of your sins, even and especially the ones that are hard to repent of.  Because you commit them against yourself.

PJ.