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GUEST
ARTICLE
THE NEW AND IMPROVED
SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Centuries ago,
the Catholic church catalogued what became known as the seven
deadly sins: pride, gluttony, sloth, lust, greed, envy and
anger. Ghandi had his own version: wealth without work, pleasure
without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without
character, politics without principle, commerce without morality
and worship without sacrifice.
Recently, Pope
Benedict XVI warned “we are losing the notion of sin.” Hardly
a surprising development in a culture that celebrates what
use to be condemned. What may be surprising, however, is
that recent surveys reveal attendance at confession is plummeting
among Catholics.
So, the Catholic
church has decided to expand the list to include some additional
sins. They include: genetic modification, human experiments
such as cloning, polluting the environment, causing social
injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and
taking drugs. The Vatican newspaper quoted Gianfranco Girotti
as saying, “You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming
or coveting your neighbor’s wife but also by polluting, cloning,
taking drugs, promoting social injustice, or becoming obscenely
rich.”
You
think an expanded list of sins to confess would cause people
to head
to the confessional booths? I didn’t think so either. A sin
list is like a speed limit sign on the highway. It’s absolutely
powerless to stop speeders. Something has to happen inside
that vehicle. The driver has to decide he or she is going
to do the right thing and obey the laws for their own good
and the good of others.
The same thing
is true with people and sin. Something has to happen inside
our own heart. A list of sins is absolutely powerless to
stop sinners. The sinner has to decide he or she is going
to do the right thing and obey the laws of God, for their
own good and the good of others.
Paul
said, “there
is no one righteous, not even one . . . for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). James said even if we avoid
certain sins, like the seven deadly ones or even the second
seven, recently added by the Catholic church, still, if we
stumble “at just one point” of God’s law, we’re “guilty of
breaking all of it” (James 2:10). In other words, if we only messed
up once we’re still just as guilty before God as if we’d
broken every sin in the Book.
Listing
more sins isn’t going to help any of us. What we need is Someone
to help us with our sin problem. Thankfully, we have all
the help we need if we want it. Jesus came to “save us from
our sins” (Matthew 1:21) and He gave us the Holy Spirit
to empower us so we could overcome sin (Galatians 5:16-25). What’s more, John said, “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The motivation
for confession is not an edict from the Vatican, remodeled
confessional booths, or even an expanded sin list. Rather,
our motivation to get right with God comes
right from God. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
In
other words, if we choose to do what’s right and obey God’s law, even
when we mess up from time to time . . . God’s got us covered.
I’ve got a confession
to make . . . that’s GOOD NEWS!
© 2008.
Barry L. Cameron
http://www.crossroadschristian.net/blog/
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