Overcoming Sin-Consciousness

It never ceases to amaze me.

God-fearing, Jesus-loving Christ-followers around the world are so quick to label this or that thing as "sin." Even though Scripture clearly points out we have been forgiven, those sins are forgotten, and that we have been justified. 

1 Samuel 16:7 clearly points out that while man looks at the outside, God looks at the heart. What was this verse in reference to? It was God's words to the prophet regarding the little shepherd boy, David, who would one day be the King of Israel. David, as you may recall, was selected over all of Jesse's big, strong sons. 

David? King?! Didn't God know David would one day spill the blood of thousands? Didn't He know David would one day become a conspirator and an adulterer? Surely the prophet Samuel had the wrong guy. Right?

Wrong. Of course he knew. But God was looking at David's HEART. Sure, King David took the bait and did some “bad” things. Don't we all? We say ungodly things, do ungodly things, think ungodly things, eventually act them out when we get the chance, hoping we aren't "caught." 

Trying not to sin is not unlike, for instance, trying NOT to picture a clear glass bowl filled with green and red M&M's. Go on, try it.

Next time you do that thing you hate doing, or next time you fail to do something you feel you should be doing, ask yourselves, "Who labeled that a sin?" Undoubtedly, the answer will be something like, "my Church, my pastor, my parents, my wife."

You see, the people who point fingers and accuse - human beings who also needed a Savior -  are typically focused upon two things which, in general, define their own faith: 1) Going to church services and 2) "Being good."

That pretty much sums up most people's definition of Christianity.

These Christian accusers are in bondage to Sin Consciousness and are quick to judge you according to their own standard (typically, it boils down to church attendance and being good). Like Jesse, they, too, are looking ONLY at the outside and NOT at the heart. Sadly, making things worse, when an unbelieving world sees us fall, we are ridiculed and scorned and the cause of Christ for which we said we lived, becomes irrelevant in their eyes and we are marginalized.

Many of should grasp the theology presented in Romans 14. Here Paul uses the example of formerly unclean food to point out how different people at different stages of maturity in their faith will yoke themselves to different observances. 

"Some Christians may still find eating certain foods as unclean while others have no problems eating those foods, or one group may uphold a holiday over another, but it is not required for us to all believe the same or become  yoked to the same beliefs.  However, in order to edify those who believe differently, we are not to violate the observances of our fellow Christians lest they stumble.  It's a matter of how firmly one is yoked to a belief in contrast to another."

I believe Paul is encouraging us to not yoke ourselves to manmade, legalistic traditions and dogmas as much as we can, but not to offend those who are more legalistic so that the body of Christ is edified. It's not unlike telling an adult not to get upset over a child who is still learning to walk. As that child grows up and becomes stronger, behaviors will change. Our job is simply to love, serve, edify that child, picking him up and encouraging him when he falls.

I hope you are not one of those who goes around keeping a record of wrongs, deciding who is a "real" Christian and what is or is not a sin. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty; there's no freedom in a life lived in bondage to Sin Consciousness, always trying to determine who is sinful, who is good and who is bad. If you aren't sure if that's you, ask yourself if you truly love the person, or people, in question. Ask if they are showing any fruitful evidence of the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwelling and living through their lives. If your standard is whether they attend an institutional church and whether they are good or bad, that standard is NOT the standard modeled by Jesus. 

Paul wrote (1 Cor 10): “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake, the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God, even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." 

I believe if we live our lives attempting to be all things to all people so that we might win some, motivated by a heart filled with love and the purpose of introducing others to Christ in us, the Hope of glory, we will either be sought after or attacked. Jesus was our example of that.  The focus should not be on how good or bad we are, but our own growth in faith and in our knowledge of Jesus. Stop grading your progress.

I know a woman who was a prostitute and porn actress. High on drugs, with alcohol in her glass, alone, she would read the Bible. For many years since, her minstry has been to rescue those trapped within that industry. Thank God no Sin-Conscious Christians were around heaping condemnation on her lifestyle while the Spirit was working on her!

Remember, because of Jesus, you are the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). In other words, when God sees you, He sees Jesus and the potential to do what He empowered you to do. We have been justified ONLY by His grace, not because of any seemingly “good” thing we might have done.

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work