People are good at making excuses to justify sin in their lives. Getting into a habit of sin is often hard to get out of. Sometimes the progression of sin seems like the easier road to follow. Often turning from our sinful ways leads to tremendous guilt, anxiety, and helplessness. Even those strong in their faith still manage to stumble over and over again at some point in their life. It may seem like an overwhelming task to turn from our evil deeds and turn to God. This world does not make it easy to repent. Constant nagging voices are telling you to love yourself and accept yourself for who you are. What if your actions are wrong in God's eyes?
The voice of reason and morality has been replaced with don't judge me. When someone exposes Biblical truths to the world, they are often labeled as judgmental. One of the most abused verses in scripture is Luke 6:37.
Luke 6:37 NASB “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
So what qualifies as judging? The term judge is defined as forming an opinion or conclusion. If you believe that the Bible is the inherent word of God, then you also believe in Biblical truths. Biblical truths are not an opinion or conclusion; they are a roadmap created by God for us to follow. Scripture is intended to equip us to live in the world. When we do not read scripture or practice its teachings, we often resort back to our default position. For many, their default position is immersing themselves in the culture around them.
Making excuses to justify sin doesn't make the sin right.
God defined what sin is. You can try to cherry-pick scripture to justify your position, but the sin is still a sin. I recently read an article on Faithit. The title of the article was “would you-or should you-attend a gay friend's wedding?” The story went on to describe two types of Christians, those who say absolutely and those who say no to attending a gay wedding. Reading the comment section of the article was interesting. I didn't see many people basing their opinion either way on Biblical truths. Meaning, they made their decision to support or oppose the wedding based on opinion.
Opinions lead to judging when you are shooting from the hip instead of following scripture. One of the best examples I often use in any situation is what would Jesus do? Jesus would love the sinner but hate the sin right? Let's take it one step further. Jesus surrounded himself with sinners, yet never sinned. There is not one single Bible verse where Jesus engaged in sin. He did not collect taxes with the tax collector. Most certainly he didn't supervise prostitute.
Search out the sinner.
Jesus didn't search out the sin; he searched out the sinner. When we put ourselves in situations to support or condone sin, we are actively engaging in the sin as well. Doing this does not follow Jesus's example of loving the sinner but hating the sin. We are called to be a light in the world. Part of being a light in the darkness is to exclude ourselves from sinful situations. Supporting sinful lifestyle choices or bad behaviors dims our light and makes the sin more acceptable.
Making excuses to justify sin entrenches us in the sin. Showing this example to others leads them to believe that what they are doing is right. How can you possibly lead someone to Christ when you are of this world? We are called to be different. The fruits that we bear should lead others to Christ. It is time to quit masking sinful behavior and expose sins for what they are.