This is excellent and was orginally posted at
There are certain sins that have become culturally acceptable. We do not call them out. We do not acknowledge them. And we probably don’t even recognize them as a sin. But they are in fact sins. Now before you read this and go judge everyone in your church, take a look in the mirror. We must fix the sin in our own lives first.
These are 7 sins that we need to examine our lives for and see if they exist.
GLUTTONY
It’s better to be fat than gay in the American Church. Oh snap, that stings a little bit. But it’s true. We are totally okay with calling out someone that is openly gay. But we could not care less less about someone who eats too much. If fact, if you walk into a church after Thanksgiving you will probably hear the pastor make a few jokes about overeating the past week.
Since I opened a box of worms here, let me say this. How we treat the homosexual community is wrong. And how we allow gluttony to run rampant is equally wrong. Jesus was able to stand for truth with grace. We need to do the same.
FEAR/ANXIETY
Fear and worry permeate our churches. It’s got to stop. What’s worse is no one seems to be calling this sin out. When I have brought this up before I have gotten a response as, “But you don’t understand, if {fill in the black} happens it’s all over.” I just want to say, “No you don’t understand, if Jesus died and rose again, what does it matter?!”
We don’t need to worry about how much money we have. What happens to this country. Or what illness we might get in the future. At the end of the day no one but Jesus has the power to make any impactful change on our lives. We literally have nothing to worry or fear.
There are many in this country that have medically diagnosed Anxiety. That is different then what I am proposing is a sin.
IDOLATRY
I know what you are thinking, “I don’t have any golden statues in my house.” Yeah I know, but you still have idols. It might be that black box that hangs on your wall. It might be your social media accounts. That brick in your pocket that you stare at constantly. Your clothes, bank account, relationships, looks, and intellect can all be idols. An idol is anything that takes the place of God. We have plenty of those in our culture today.
I constantly check my life to see what idols are trying to sneak up. There’s always something vying for God’s spot in my life. My money, my time, my social status, even my technology, I’m tempted to put those first in my life. When an area gets out of hand I try to put it back in check.
Do you have any idols in your life? How do you know if you have an idol? What’s the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing at night? Whatever that is it’s a good chance that is an idol in your life.
CONSUMERISM
This certainly could fall in the previous category as an idol. But this one stands out. We are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. Yet we are buried in debt. That my friends is a sin. We try to fill the void in our life with items and vacations rather than letting God fill it.
Let me make one thing clear, money is not sin. But letting it run your life is. Do you spend more time planning your next purchase or thinking about God? Are you more concerned with your next vacation or reaching your neighbors for Christ? Are you putting your faith in your 401k or God? Too many American Christians are more concerned with their financial status and not their relationship with God. That’s a sin.
NATIONALISM
This one is going to hurt. It’s a sin to put anything before God. That includes America. Our ultimate allegiance is to God not this country. Too many in the church place their American freedoms above God’s kingdom.
This means that sometimes what is best for this country is not always what is Biblically correct. I hear far too many Christians that are more concerned with the direction of the government and not concerned enough with their neighbors’ salvation. Where is your allegiance? Is it to God or country? Are you more concerned with the direction of this country or advancing the Kingdom of God?
This means that sometimes what is best for this country is not always what is Biblically correct.
I know this is a touchy subject, especially with the elections this year. God’s Kingdom has a different set of morals and governing principles that stand in opposition of every earthly government. We need to look and see where our allegiance lies.
IDLENESS
One of the greatest temptations man faces is to be idle. It started in the Garden of Eden when Eve was tempted, Adam did nothing; he was idle. We today largely do the same. We largely don’t even protect our families. Oh I know we protect them from the “physical” dangers out there, but what about the spiritual dangers? Why aren’t we warning our Christian bothers and sisters when they wander off in the wrong direction? Why don’t we call out sin in our own family?
God did not call us to be idle and timid. He called us to be bold and courageous. It’s time for us to stop being idle and go get involved in others’ lives.
COMFORT
Maybe the greatest sin/lie we have boughten into is that life is all about our personal comfort. News flash, it’s not. Jesus never said that his disciples would be surrounded by comfort and nice things. He actually said that in order to follow him they would have to pick up their cross in order to follow him.
News flash, it’s not. Jesus never said that his disciples would be surrounded by comfort and nice things.
Having a moments to relax is not bad. But our whole lives should not be centered around comfort. What would Jesus’ life look like if he pursued comfort instead of us? It wouldn’t be a life that would change the world that’s for sure. We need to stop pursuing comfort and chase after the things after God’s heart. It will lead us to some pretty uncomfortable situations, but it will also lead to a life well lived.
This list isn’t intended to be used to show how bad “they” are. It’s not ammo to shoot people with. It’s a mirror to examine yourself. My guess is there is one or two things on this list that you struggle with. For me it’s Comfort and Consumerism. We need to each take our sins to Jesus, even the sins that are socially acceptable. We won’t see any change until we each deal with our own sins.
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