A tough question that periodically comes up is whether or not adultery is sin. If you dare bring it up, you’re likely considered a pariah which everyone avoids. There are times when the only thing worse than bringing up the question of adultery being sin, is answering it.
Adultery and many other acts are known sins. It’s spelled out both in the black words and the red ones.
One of the typical responses you’ll get if you ask the question about adultery being sin is someone pointing out a host of other behaviors that are considered sinful as well.
Somehow they think that pointing out the other behaviors that are sins will take attention away from adultery. By making a long list of sins, it waters down the specific behavior in question.
The logic of pointing out a multitude of sins as a way of counter balancing one doesn’t make sense to me. All this approach does is distract you from the topic of adultery.
The hope is that you’ll be so caught up defending what is or is not a sin, that you drop the original comment.
You’ll likely to also encounter some of those who talk about ‘not judging others’ or ‘who are you to judge me?’ kind of responses. They forget that it was not you who made the proclamation, you merely brought it to their awareness.
When you dare identifying any act as sinful, you become a lightning rod for some highly polarizing comments.
There are also some who will give you real or hypothetical stories then question you about them. Some of those with stories have spent years crafting storylines filled with unlikely and improbable situations. Many times the story tellers are wanting their acts to be approved since they were either ‘special’ or had unique motivations in their lives.
There are some postmodern thinkers who want a re-definition of sin. One prominent theologian wants sins re-classified as thin sins and thick sins, so that people don’t struggle with them so much.
Other thinkers consider the old definition dated and nothing more than arbitrary rules written by men. By redefining sin to suit modern needs, they think it will suddenly make the behavior acceptable.
Then there are those who tell you they personally know some Christians practicing adultery and how they don’t consider it sin. In their mind if certain people engage in adultery, it makes it acceptable.
My contention is if they were following the rules of their faith, they wouldn’t be sleeping around.
It’s rare that someone takes the approach, “Okay, adultery is sin. That makes me a sinner. Now what can I do about that?”
The answer to when some act you’ve been engaging in, is sin, is to stop doing it. Like pointing out some behavior that’s bad for your health. The first action is stopping the behavior.
Admitting that adultery is sinful is also an admission that it was wrong. The affair may have left the cheater feeling alive and energized. It’s hard for cheaters accepting that something that feels so good could actually be so bad.
They’d rather not have anyone point out what is good or bad. They consider it ‘none of your business.’
When you’re experiencing conviction, it hurts having someone point out the wrongness of one of your acts. It stirs up questions and doubts deep inside that you’d rather not disturb.
Sins can be forgiven. Faults can only be corrected when you know about them. No one likes having their dirty laundry on display, yet if you’re constantly improving yourself, the dirty laundry is merely a temporary embarrassment.
I recall in my early years of playing football that coaches often pointed out my wrong behaviors. I didn’t stand right, I didn’t move the right ways, I didn’t execute plays the right way. From their feedback, my skills improved. Rather than hate the coaches or the discomfort of having my faults pointed out, I changed my way of doing things.
When someone points out that you sinned or that your spouse has sinned, rather than attack back, consider the option of changing your way of doing things and improve your marriage. Joining the Restored Lifestyle site is one way of accomplishing this.
There are times when the articles may leave you feeling discomfort, yet how are you going to change anything if you don’t have a clear idea what needs changing?
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
