WORST SIN
You do know there's one sin worse than all others. Right? That's the situation if you're not saved. There is only one thing (sin) that keeps you out of eternal life, and a committed Christian does not have to worry about it. Why not? Because if your acceptance of salvation was sincere, you have the presence of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that cancels out a trip to Heaven is denial of the Holy Spirit. Christ warns us in Matt.12:31, "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men." That is because the Holy Spirit represents the very power of God. If you deny the power
of God, you are denying God.
To review this fact, we see that a real Christian can't deny the Holy Spirit because it is part of the commitment. Therefore, there is no worst sin for a Christian. All sins are of equal value because each and every one of us exhibits man's failure of righteousness. Isaiah 64:6. "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;" The 10 Commandments (plus 1) and the teaching in the four gospels give us the standards we must follow to fulfill our commitment.
If there was a "worst" sin, you might think murder would top the list. Even a murderer who repents, confesses his sin to God and accepts Christ's offer of salvation, has eternal life. No single sin of any kind except blasphemy cuts mankind from eternal life. That's why it is so important that we don't keep unsaved people from attending church. Of course we expect a saved person to work on curtailing the actions that were/are involved in any kind of sin.
If there is no action to change, we must conclude the commitment was not real. An individual may not be able to eliminate the sin overnight, but there should be evidence he/she is trying. It is also important to understand the sinner (including us, individually) needs the companionship of other believers to help clean up the path towards righteousness.
Growing up, the church people I was surrounded by were pretty set in their beliefs of sin, and especially the "worst" sin or sins. That meant some people were not treated well. These worst sins included a host of activities such as liquor, smoking, murder, divorce, infidelity
and several others. The one sin that actually caused more grief than any other was not usually mentioned. It seemed each denomination had a differing value on different sins. The more righteous people believed they were, the more that denomination discriminated against
others. Instead of increasing the circle of fellowship, this attitude turned non Christians off. When we began this ministry, we were surprised at the number of people who wanted nothing to do with Christianity because of early church experiences.
Things haven't changed much in the minds of many people who claim to be Christians. They continue to preach on the subject of selected worst sins. Many do have different sins at the top of their list, and this continues to turn off many people who have the power to intelligently reason. You would think a person who claims to be a Christian would at least know something about their manual, the bible. At least they should know something about the New Testament.
Yet, the worst sin syndrome seems to have claimed the forefront of knowledge. Along with this attitude is the fixation on sex, which some people think is part of everything.
Before we examine some of today's worst sin theories, let's take a look at one sin that probably causes more anguish than any other, and it's easily passed over. It is something we all do, and it seems there are two main reasons it flourishes. One is the lack of education, and the other is lack of religious knowledge. Religious knowledge is the very basic of the 10 Commandments. It is Ex. 20:16, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." We need to get a full understanding of FALSE WITNESS. When you lie about a matter related to another person, that is false witness. When you pass along information about a subject without checking for fact or accuracy, this is GOSSIP. If you don't know, don't tell. You never know how many people you have somehow damaged because it's usually impossible to tell all people who heard the gossip the truth. Worse yet, the damage can destroy reputations, families and organizations.
Murder and infidelity may impact quite a number of people, but they don't have the impact gossip may have. Millions can be affected by false information (gossip). Dictators and big time financial people are successful because they peddle false information (gossip). An example of that is our political campaigning. The same is true in all aspects of our society, including sports and religion. Many Christians make a mistake by accepting information without checking where the material originated. In religion, the various "man" rules can tell you the denomination. Rules do vary from church to church, but there are usually many that are similar. When a speaker or pastor from the group details activities, they will be from the "teaching" outreach of the denomination. Before you fall in line, take the time to check these instructions with scripture. Our churches today are inundated with pastors who mix religion and opinion. When you follow opinion or teaching not in the gospels, you become a purveyor of gossip.
One of the best ways to spread false information is to manufacture an emotional issue. There are many such issues, and embellished with suspect information, create a flash issue that spawns vigilante action. Once this gets started, any grain of truth is trampled, and the result brings harm to innocent people. Today's society is guilty of verbal "hanging." Behind this phenomenon is the lust for control, power and money. For some pastors, it is job stability. They may not know the facts, and they may not want to take a chance in rocking the boat of influential church members. Some pastors will not speak about certain areas of scripture or subjects that are "hot button" subjects in their church or denomination.
Most people rate politicians below the proverbial used car salesman for accuracy or honest information. Yet, these same people listen to similar information from the pulpit without bothering to verify the information. Many denominations and churches have themselves become political organizations. These developments go right back to the acceptance of gossip. A mixture of truth, half truths and falsehoods results in a toxic message. It is often so much
easier to evade the truth. It is difficult to preach the truth, even though you base the information on scripture. Truth frequently hurts, and few people want to be hurt. It's much easier to go with the flow. Satan's representatives have an excellent background in how to influence people and lead them astray. Satan's teaching staff appears to be more dedicated than the Christian teachers.
The use of an inflammatory issue seems to work very well in leading some Christians into concentrating on one issue and overlooking others. The fact that there is no sin to keep a Christian from eternal life is swallowed in an emotional reaction to elevate one sin to the "worst" status. That is happening today in America because professing Christians don't know scripture. Christ never brow beat anyone to become a Christian. He taught how Christians
are to react to all people. He gave them a choice. Christianity can't be forced on people. The Great Commission directed us to LEAD people to salvation, not force them. Mark 16:15 directs us, "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'" It is not our judgment to condemn those who choose not to accept His offer, as verse 16 tells us their refusal condemns themselves.
A Christian's job is to preach the word (witness), move away from those sins we seem to enjoy, false witness (gossip), and judgment. Some Christians are not better than others (more righteous), and every one continues to have a problem with some kind of sin. If there is a
difference between denominations, preachers or individual Christians, it is because of the lack of knowledge of scripture and research of facts. Christ's directions are clear in the four gospels. Study them.
Rev. Walbear
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