Does sin control your life? Don't misunderstand me. When I talk about sin I am talking about those things that are contrary to the law and love of our great and gracious God, who has made himself known to us through His Word, World, Son and sons. When we talk about control, however, we are not just talking about committing sinful acts, or the control that sin can gain over us by longstanding practice or the affect of its consequences.
We are also talking about the secondary affect of the idea of sin on our lives that we often label as a "slippery slope," but is something much more nefarious and damaging than an act of sin because it creates a pattern of thought that cripples spiritual growth and transformation. Perhaps it would be clearer if we referred to it simply as "fear." Yet, it is not just any type of fear. It is certainly not a godly fear that is the "beginning of wisdom." Rather, it is a fear that is supposed to be cast out by love and knowledge and hope and peace, which define who we are as Christians.
This type of fear creates spiritual phantasms where none exist. It fabricates sin in things or people or places or ideas where it simply has not flourished. It is the kind of fear that the one talent man feels as he heads off to his sequestered field to bury his talent for the day the master returns.
Are there true and dangerous "slippery slopes?" Sure there are. We see them all the time, especially in scripture. James makes it clear to us when he describes the progress of sin, letting us know very clearly that it begins in the heart, spreads to our acts and when left alone brings forth our spiritual death, as it again turns inward and destroys that inner spiritual man (James 1:14, 15). We find it in Psalm 73:1-20, where, once again, we learn that slippery slopes begin with sin or sinful thoughts.
Let's consider the life of King David for a moment. His sin with Bathsheba began when, as James said, he lusted in his heart after her. It did not begin when he went to the roof, stayed home from war or accidentally viewed her from afar. It was not sinful for David to stay home, anymore than it was for him to have a roof. Yet, the way some folks look at the Bible and sin, this is exactly what they would have you believe, as they compel you to live in fear and thus under a secondary sort of bondage to sin.
This is what we do when we take matters of opinion or articles of expediency and make them either a sin to use nor not use them. For instance, in the last several years I have preached using an digital projection system with programs like PowerPoint to create slideshows. While most find this beneficial, some find it distracting. Most in either of groups will tell you, "That is just my opinion." A few, however, will so disdain change or progress or the discomfort it causes that they will declare such things sinful, trying their best to argue such from scripture by abusing the Word of God, either adding to it or taking away from it, which in itself is sinful.
The saddest part of it all is the fact that this final sin began with only a fear of the idea of sin where there actually was none. It began not with a genuine slippery slope, but a self-created one. It began not with sin, but a fear of the idea of sin, which lead to it. How often do we see this interfere with congregational growth, personal transformation, worshiping in "spirit and truth," and much more.
Each of can be prone to such behavior and must guard against it. Any of us can so radicalize the notion of sin that we see it even when it is not there. We can fabricate it in others and self and often are lead by it to actual sin. We can be so afraid of violating some principle of truth in worship that we fail worship in spirit. We can be so fearful of not living a pure life that we fail to live at all. We can be so afraid of God's existence that we live like he doesn't exist.
Listen to these words of John. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love"(1Jn 4:18). Is that you? Hopefully as you mature (move to perfection) you will let God's love replace your fear and find freedom in the "perfect law of liberty."
