Sin, Virtue, and God's Anger

I was teaching Bible study last week when a student asked, "Is [blank] a sin?"

I felt an odd sort of embarrassment in answering the question.  My mind produced an image of myself as a revivalist preacher - scaring the daylights out of impressionable people, waving my Bible at them, and commanding them to repent their wicked ways or incur the anger of God. 

And while I do want the little rascals to repent their wicked ways... it makes one ask: In favor of what? 

Spotting Counterfeits:

I've heard a fable (which was partly true) about federal agents being trained to spot fake currency.  The first thing they do is intently study real money.  Only after they've mastered the true image of the bill do they get shown the counterfeits.  

That's roughly how I tried to answer the question.  My short answer was "yes".  But then I wanted to spend a while talking about the virtue which that vice deviated from. 

Christian morality is often characterized as a series of DON'Ts. "Don't do this, don't do that."  Now, there's nothing wrong with listing "don'ts".  God famously gave out some.  Still, Jesus didn't say "avoid breaking the rules".  Rather, He said:

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:48

That takes more than simply avoiding sin.  It involves an active pursuit of the virtues they oppose.

Between Two Vices:

That's not to say that vice is the opposite of virtue.  The opposite of a vice is almost always another vice.  For instance, I once praised the saris that Indian women wear because they are both beautiful and modest.  A fella responded, "You want women to be covered like radical Muslims do!"

Ummm... no.  Opposing indecency doesn't constitute an approval for the burqa.  The former treats a woman's body like it's a public resource, the latter as if it's public danger. 

My colleague was only capable of moving between the extremes.  He didn't understand that the virtue of modesty, like all virtue, lies in that area of sanity between two vices. 

Following the Design:

It also said that virtue is God's way to prevent all possible fun.  Why can't we just do whatever makes us happy?  How can something be a sin if no one get's hurt?

Well, that's just the thing.  Having fun doesn't necessarily mean you're happy.  Fun can be good, but it can also be a distraction from how unhappy we really are. 

Your car's manufacturer likely took the time to put an "unleaded fuel only" sticker somewhere close to your gascap.  Why did that jerk try to limit your freedom?  Well, a car receiving something other than unleaded gasoline will eventually break down.  Using unleaded gas will allow the car to operate as it was meant to.  

Likewise, a human who is pursuing sin and vice will be led down a path of self-destruction.  But virtue is living in accordance with the way human nature is supposed to operate.  That ultimately leads us to peace and a deep abiding happiness.  So someone is always hurt when we sin.  First of all, ourselves.

The Anger of God:

Does sin anger God?  You bet.

When a father finds out his son is doing drugs, he gets angry.  But is his anger rooted in a hatred for drugs?  No, that comes out of the true motivation for his anger; he loves his son and doesn't want to see him hurt himself.  He wants to see his son become happy and fulfilled. 

So it goes with God.  It is often said that God loves us just the way we are.  That's true!  But God also loves us enough to not stay that way.  He leads us away from sin, toward being the virtuous people we were meant to be. 

Thank you for joining me.  If you found this helpful, please feel free to share it!