Sex, drugs and rock & roll…some seem acceptable and some others do not. But who says? There seem to be some “acceptable sins” for people who love God, but who determines what is acceptable and what is not? Unfortunately, it’s usually our culture that makes those rules.  According to society, getting drunk is ok once in awhile, but being an alcoholic—that’s a sin.  Being addicted to drugs is unacceptable, but cheating on your taxes is cool, if you can get away with it.  Caring more about watching “the big game” than about family time is just expected for a man, right? It can go on and on…but what does God have to say?

Here’s a simple definition of sin: ANYTHING that separates you from God. So for some, it is alcohol—in any amount.  For some it’s . . . hunting, football, your appearance, your job, your intellect, or maybe even church.  Yes, I said church!  Do you go to church to “check it off the list” of things that make you look like a good person?  Do you participate in the worship band to get attention?  Even going to church can become sinful.  

It is funny how little God talks about addiction in the scriptures.  On the other hand, he addresses idol worship over and over.  It’s interesting how addictions and idol worship affect a person’s life in a similar way; I think they might be the same in the mind of God. They both stem from believing lies and from selfishness.  They both take your focus off God and off other relationships that matter. So, maybe we have all been worshiping false idols.  Those false idols are not necessarily alcohol, drugs or sports—what we are actually addicted to, what we are actually worshipping, is OURSELVES.  I do what makes me feel good, what makes me look good to others, what makes me more money so I can further indulge.  I have become the idol.  My needs, my selfishness, my importance, me, me, me.

God knew this would happen, so the first two commandments (Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:1-17) tell us:

·  You shall have no other gods before me.

·  You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Nevertheless, most of us have come to believe that if we’re not engaging in the “big” sins (adultery, addictions, murder) then we’re still “good Christians.” But God’s opinion?  He’s so offended when we place anything above Him, it’s the first thing he warns against—and two out of the Ten Commandments warn against it.  So what sins have you been overlooking as “acceptable,” and what are you willing to do about them? Come on Sundays over the next month and join us in finding out what God would have us do. You are not in this alone; we are in this together.  Come join the Catalyst Church family.