It is very obvious that the voices coming from the church to the world and to the church itself concerning sexual sins are very loud. We have a language that has almost equated sexual sin with sin itself, whether it be regarding homosexuality, gay marriage, premarital sex, pornography, etc..
Can I suggest something hypocritical about this?
I believe that the opinions of most are correct, and I do not diminish their exhortations for holiness and purity. But an observation from reading of the Bible would suggest that if we compared the amount of times the Bible mentions sexual sin and the amount of times it mentions sins in regards to property misuse, we might be surprised to find that the Bible speaks more about the latter.
My point is that the proportion of the frequency and and volume of our message may not be all together consistent.
In regards to this phenomenon, Justo Gonzalez notes that,
“We hear very little in the church about the misuse of property. What we hear is vague, such as the notion of “stewardship.” But we are not told the ‘maximization of profit’ is condemned by God because it violates the rights of the poor (Deut 24, Lev 19, 23) This selective preaching and teaching is not mere coincidence. Nor is it because sexual sins are more common. It is rather because we have learned to interpret ‘sin’ like so many other elements in biblical doctrine, in a manner that is less offensive to the powerful.”
He makes a remarkable observation about our hypocrisy. We are quick to speak of things that we can easily condemn others, but are slow to point to the things which make us uncomfortable about our relationship with Jesus. Instead, we have a selective reading of the Bible which, in typical American fashion, make life easier.
This post was not necessarily meant to silence us and our voices, or to say that sexual sin is not important to God (because it really is), or even for us to address the sin of greed in our culture (although that is desperately needed), but it was written to suggest that perhaps we can exercise our prophetic voice in the world with a little more humility.
Something to think about.
