On rationalizing wrong (part I)

Prov. 17:15 "He who condones the wicked, he who condemns the just,
are both an abomination to the Lord."

It occurs to me that not once did Jesus ask the sinners why they sinned. He did not ask the tax collector why he felt he needed the money so much that he cheated his fellow man. He did not inquire into the circumstances of the adulterous woman. No, he just forgave and told them to go and sin no more.

It seems to me that we as rationalizing, not necessarily rational, creatures, are always trying to excuse our wrongs. Collectively we seem to have decided that if a person has a sufficiently "grave" reason to do something that the church calls evil, then it somehow becomes not only permissible but a positive good. In effect we have become a people who condone evil.

But Jesus was not interested in our excuses. It did not matter why the woman had turned to adultery or why the tax collector stole. Our circumstances and intentions may affect the level of punishment due, but they never alter the fact that punishment IS due. A sin is a sin is a sin regardless of why we commit it. We are, after all, fallen creatures and sin is inevitable.

However there are certain habits of thought that seem to think that because we are inclined to sinful behaviors that it follows that such behaviors are natural to humans and thus not really sinful at all, or conversly some people are only inclined to forgive others for those sins they personally do not really consider sinful but hold "real" sins unforgiven. Either way evil becomes dependent on our individual or collective human judgment and not on what God has revealed.

There are no acceptable excuses for sinning in the bible as far as I can tell and the list of sins is, quite frankly, terrifying. There is also the honest acknowledgment of our fallen nature and a continual call to repentance. God forgives us freely....but first we have to see we NEED forgiveness and then we must ASK for forgiveness and then we must KEEP TRYING to live a holy life.

It is not easy. But Jesus did not want us focused on the reasons for our sinful behavior per se, so much as He wanted us to focus on our salvation. Jesus said the way was hard and the path narrow. Saint Paul wrote about it as running a race. Excuses sidetrack us, they redirect our focus from the finish line and instead tempt us to stop running or worse lead us to run down a side path that leads us away from Him. Why we sin should concern us only in that such understanding can help us to avoid continually falling into the same sin and help us to refocus our ultimate goal.

It was never intended to be easy....thank God His grace is sufficient.