THE SINS JESUS JUDGED
Which Are They, Really?

Randy Klassen

R ecently, at an art show, a kindly woman gave me a local news journal containing a pastor’s column she was certain I would enjoy reading. Having written several such columns myself over the years, I was genuinely interested.

What I read, however, had an unhappy familiarity about it. It was a vitriolic denunciation of the sins of America that, the writer predicted, would soon lead to our destruction. By "destruction" he meant the end of our financial prosperity. By "sins" he was more specific. He named them. They were "pornography, immorality, adultery, sodomy, and divorce." If you watch some TV evangelists, you will hear roughly the same list of sins condemned.

I have often wondered why some preachers focus mainly on sexual sins. Are not the sins of greed, violence, bigotry, arrogance, and dishonesty—to name only a few—also matters of morality? What were the sins condemned by Jesus, our guide in areas of right and wrong?

Seeking an answer to this question, I quickly reread the four Gospels noting which sins Jesus denounced. In Matthew and Mark I found that most of his judgments were directed against religious hypocrisy. I found over 20 such references. In second place came our Lord’s warnings against greed and reliance upon material wealth. He also spoke against anger, unfaithfulness, failing to forgive, prayerlessness, misleading a child, judging others, and demanding miracles. I found only three references to sexual sins: lust, adultery, and divorce. Homosexuality is not even mentioned.

In Luke’s Gospel, the sins most frequently mentioned are greed and dependence on material resources. Hypocrisy is a close third. Then faithlessness, pride, prayerlessness, and failure to forgive are mentioned. Luke records only two specific judgments against sexual immorality.

In the Gospel of John, faith is emphasized, so the sin of failing to believe is underscored. Also condemned are the sins of pride, greed, hypocrisy, and judgmentalism. In John, as in Mark’s Gospel, I found no reference to sexual sins.

Are we therefore to imply that sexual offenses are not as serious as other sins? Certainly not! Any sin that harms a sister or a brother is serious. But Jesus knew what was damaging and what was most needed. We can grasp something of his intent when we look at the conduct of many of the first Christians.

Church historians show that the moral standards of those early Christians were considerably more disciplined than those of their pagan neighbors. Some even moved toward complete asceticism. But those who married considered their unions to be monogamous relationships "until death did them part." Sexual purity, important as it was, seemed to be the fruit of a higher motivation.

The brilliant philosopher Tertullian, who became a Christian in the third century, defended his fellow believers in these revealing words: "They voluntarily contribute to the support of the destitute, and pay for their funeral expenses: to supply the needs of boys and girls lacking money and power, and of old people confined to their homes. . . . We do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another . . . we hold everything in common but our spouses—[then he added sardonically] exactly reversing the practice in outside society."

This quotation was taken from Elaine Pagel’s book Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, in which she notes many other wonderful features of the early church. They were a community of courage and love.

There it is! "How they love one another," commented a contemporary observer. When love is real, look what happens to the vices. Love leads to generosity, defeating selfishness, and greed. Love leads to integrity, defeating dishonesty and hypocrisy. Love leads to acceptance of others, defeating judgmentalism and unforgiveness. Love leads to honoring male and female distinctions, thus defeating lust and deprecation of others. Love leads to respecting all of God’s children, thus defeating prejudice, bigotry, and violence.

Is that not why Jesus made love first in importance? Remember his words: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:37-39 NRSV).

We need to keep our priorities where Jesus placed them. If we condemn only the sexually immoral, we may fail to recognize the immorality of exploiting the poor or perverting the truth to gain another dollar. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of the Pharisees who, proud of their supposed moral perfection, went about their religious duties while failing to see and help the beaten and fallen traveler (Luke 10:29-37).

Maybe our biggest sin is not seeing, or not wanting to see, the needy people all around us. Are not these the neighbors Jesus calls us to love? Christlike love opens our eyes and our hands.

If Christ sets our priorities, our loudest judgments will fall on our failure to love, while our applause will go to the "good Samaritans." I believe such will also receive heaven’s "well done."

—Randy Klassen, Walla Walla, Washington, served as pastor in Covenant Church congregations for 34 years and developed two new churches. For four years he was Covenant Church Executive Secretary of Evangelism, and he did art work professionally for six years. He has written many articles and a number of books, most recently What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell? (Pandora Press U.S., 2001).