Thought of the Day 11.10.09

There are four categories of sin.

The first is our favorite category: sins we’ve never struggled with. These are extremely comfortable to talk about because we’ve never been tempted by them and there can, of course, be no shame to us in discussing them.

The second category is potentially just as pleasant: sins we’ve overcome. Although we can be reluctant to admit our history, we’re usually more eager to celebrate God in the remedy. Having been sufferers ourselves, we tend to be more humble in discussing them.

The third category is very unpleasant: sins we currently struggle with. Obviously, these are things we prefer to avoid, both in disclosure and in conversation, except to the extent that we take pleasure in the hypocrisy of vehemently condemning groups to which we secretly belong.

The fourth type, however, is the most deadly: sins we don’t realize plague us. After all, the most durable slave doesn’t even know he is one, for what man fights for freedom when he thinks he already has it? Also, a group of equally enslaved people can easily persuade themselves that such slavery isn’t even slavery at all.