Which Sins Do You Choose To Confront? (July 25, 2004)

Last week I said that some sins are worse than others. This week I'm wondering why we are more willing to confront some sins than others. Is it because they are truly worse in the eyes of God, or because for some reason they rankle us more? Or perhaps because they are easier targets?

Leadership Journal records the responses of four evangelical pastors to the question, "What's the most important thing you want to say, pastorally, to a homosexual couple?" Disturbingly, none of the four even addressed the question, much less gave what I thought was the obvious answer: "Repent." I imagined these pastors standing with John the Baptist and shaking their heads in dismay as John tells Herod, "You cannot have your brother's wife." (How alienating! Now Herod will be offended! He’ll regard us as adulterophobes. How will he ever come to know how kind and loving and joyful we are if we tell him he has to repent? And who are we to judge a man who clearly was born with a promiscuous orientation?)

It interests me that we evangelical pastors are not nearly so wishy-washy about challenging sinners when the issue is dear to us and less politically sensitive. My favorite example is the oft-cited passage in the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, where Pastor Jim Cymbala savages the sin of gossip. He tells new members:

I charge you that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone - myself, an usher, a choir member, or anyone else - that you stop that person in mid-sentence and say, "Excuse me - who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slighted you? Was it Pastor Cymbala? Let's go to his office right now. He'll apologize to you, and then we'll pray together so God can restore peace to this body." But we won't let you talk critically about people who aren't present to defend themselves.

I'm serious about this. I want to help you resolve this kind of thing immediately. And know this: If you are ever the one doing the loose talking, we'll confront you.

I was deeply impressed with this quote when I first read it, and used it in a sermon. But now I'm wondering, does Cymbala take the same approach with other grave sins? (Maybe he does! Please understand I am not criticizing him at all. I’m just wondering.) If the sin were fornication rather than slander, would he urge members to confront the sinner on the spot? Imagine a pastor telling new members, "I charge you, if you ever hear another member say, 'I'm living with my fiancé,' you stop that person in mid-sentence and say, 'Excuse me? You're living in sin? Let's go to the pastor's office right now so you can repent.' I want you to resolve this thing immediately. And know this: If you are ever the one doing the cohabiting, we'll confront you."

Maybe that is exactly what he would say, and if so, I applaud his consistency. But what I'd like to know is just what is the set of sins concerning which it is our duty to stop the sinner cold and insist on immediate repentance. Abusing drugs? Having an abortion? Viewing pornography? Refusing to tithe? Getting drunk? Using a racial epithet?

Just wondering.