OCR Document

No. 27, December 1997

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

Modern man’s smug indifference toward sin has been likened to an old lady at a garden party being told that an escaped lion was only a few yards away. “Oh, yes,” she responded, as she quietly took another cucumber sandwich.

It was not so with the medieval theologians who took sin so seriously that they identified “the seven deadly sins” as the source of all sins. Paul Tillich divided all of human history into a response to three fears. He said the ancients were fearful of death, the medievalists of sin and guilt, and we modems of meaninglessness.

This may be why medievalists like Chaucer and Gregory saw sin as deadly, and rightly to be feared, and when they named seven in particular they really meant the seven deadliest sins. They have biblical precedence for such distinctions in that Jesus saw some sins as greater than others and the apostles John referred to a “sin unto death.”

These deadly sins not only remind us how serious sin is, but they also show that sins overlap each other, one leading to another. A roll call of these sins may prove to be soul-searching in that they get close to where we all are.

1. Pride. Defined as inordinate self-esteem or conceit, it is deemed the basis of all sin. C. S. Lewis said that sins like adultery are but fleabites in comparison to pride. It breeds arrogance, selfishness, boastfulness, self-glorification, self-centeredness. It is camel-nosed in that it exalts self and makes one aloof. It may well be that every sin is born of pride.

2. Envy. This is the only sin that gains nothing for the sinner. Others gain power, wealth, or gratification, but envy gains nothing. It is the sin that almost no one admits. Envy? Who, me? It is mean, nasty, and vicious in that it finds satisfaction in the misfortune of others. It is our equals more than our superiors that we envy – a more successful sister or brother, a gifted fellow minister, a fellow worker that got the promotion. It falsely assumes that everyone should be able to enjoy every-thing others enjoy, and that another’s accomplishment belittles oneself.

3. Anger. It is grossly destructive because it nearly always involves careless words which spray the whole land-scape like gunfire, often afflicting unintended victims. Words that cannot be taken back. Anger’s foolish behavior destroys lives in a moment, including those we love most. It is the “outburst” and “get even” sin that demands revenge. Closely related to hatred, it rules the mind and becomes an obsession. It bums with passion and is fueled by scorn. It is called the Devil’ s furnace.

4. Sloth. This may be the surprise on the list, for we think of sloth as laziness and idleness – and are they that bad? But sloth means more than that. It means a morbid inertia of mind and body alike, and a poisoning of the will. No desire for anything worthwhile, an “I couldn’t care less” attitude toward life. Virtue means nothing, for he doesn’t care that much. As for spiritual interests, nothing! Causes? Zero! If trashy outwardly, trashy also inwardly. Sloth would die, but it has nothing to die for.

5. Greed. Sometimes called avarice, which means an inordinate desire for wealth and things. It is a craving to possess for the sake of possessing. Enamored of things, thingification! Unlike the miser who fondles his gold in hiding, today’s greed is on display - “If you have it, flaunt it!” Greed is insatiable. Whether it is lust for money, power, attention, sex, lands, there is never enough. And yet it all proves to be so empty. It begets consumerism. Always buying (what we don’t need?), never satisfied. However common greed may be, no one ever seems to be aware of being greedy. Avarice blinds us to what is really in our hearts..

6. Gluttony. A glutton may ignore us but we cannot ignore him! There are two things we all hate, egoism and gluttony. Could that be because we see in them shades of ourselves? Gluttony joins lust and greed in distorting what should be beautiful: food, sex, things. An inordinate desire for gratification destroys life’s most delightful experiences. Food looks good, smells good, and tastes good, but not to the glutton. His only concern is to devour, which denies him of his dignity.

7. Lust. Its great offense is that it has no concern for its partner, only for gratification. People in love enjoy each other at breakfast and at the park as well as in bed. They choose each other. But lust never chooses; it takes what it can get. Love is continuing and involves give and take, while lust is for the moment and has nothing to either give or ask. Lust, like most all sin, isolates one in his own shriveled world of self-centeredness.

Those concerned about our sins tend to deal with them in clusters. This list is but one of many. There are several in the Bible. Paul names 21 sins in Rom. 1:29-31 and ten in 1 Cor. 6:9f. The seven deadly sins are all there in one way or another unless it be sloth. Paul’s lists get close to where we live. Alongside murder he names gossip, and beside homosexuality he lists covetousness! We nice folk have a way choosing the sins we condemn (in others) and condone (in ourselves).

Jesus in Mk. 7:20 names not seven but thirteen deadly sins, and again there are some interesting inclusions, such as deceit placed alongside fornication. Then there is foolishness (folly) as well as blasphemy. Perhaps we should not feel left out!

There has also been an effort made to name the essence of sin or its basic character. One theologian named “inordinate self-love” as the root of all sin, while another (Luther) saw ingratitude as the most grievous sin. Augustine classified all sins as either “carnalities” (flesh) or “animosities” (soul or mind),” the latter being the more serious..

Reinhold Niebuhr has done more than any other theologian in bringing sin to the door of the church itself. Pride is the sin of the world and the church alike - pride of power, pride of knowledge, pride of virtue, pride of religion. No one could score the sensuality of luxury like Niebuhr.

What are we to conclude from all this? It underscores the seriousness of sin. Taking sin lightly may be the most serious sin of all, for it is irreverence. Too, naming sins for what they are gets our attention. It is far easier to pray, “Forgive my sins” than “Forgive my greed” or “Forgive my envy.” A mere reading of these lists of sins can cause a humble soul to wince. He realizes he is being talked about.

If these paragraphs make you uncomfortable, then there is hope for you. Good religion comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.

More than all else, however, is that we never really see the grace of God until we see our own sins laid bare. We have but two options: We are either sinners (period) or we are sinners saved by grace. What a difference!

When the Baptist introduced Jesus at his first appearance among the people, he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Yours. Mine. Wow! That is grace and that is good news. – Leroy

DID PILATE ASK THE WRONG QUESTION?

Pilate’s answer to Jesus, “What is truth?” (In. 18:38) has not gone unnoticed. An agnostic saw it as the only worthwhile question in the Bible, while a philosopher deemed it the most profound. An occasional Christian has complained that while the question was appropriate, Pilate didn’t stay to hear the answer.

Dr. Robert Richardson, out of our own Stone-Campbell heritage, is the only one I know of who questioned the question itself. He says Pilate asked the wrong question. The question should be, “What is the truth?” After all, Pilate was responding to what Jesus had just said, “I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth” - the truth, not every truth or truth in general.

Jesus had come to bear witness to what God was doing through him. Jesus himself was the kingdom, the gospel, the truth. Jesus had not come to witness to all truths or facts, but to the truth that the Messiah had come to save the world. That is the truth.

To put it another way, suppose we answer Pilate’s question the way he asked it. We could say, “Your honor, truth is what is, and there are many things that are: You are a man. You are the governor. Caesar rules in Rome. Rome rules the world. On and on it goes, sir, there are endless truths, for everything that is, if it really is, is a truth.”

We might go on. “Your honor, might you possibly mean ‘What is the truth?,’ for that is what your prisoner made reference to. He said he had come to bear witness to the truth. Is that what you mean, sir?”

And if the governor answers, “Yes, that’s what I meant, What is the truth?,” then the question moves from a philosophical one to a spiritual one.

Now that we have the right question, we can tell Pilate what he already may have feared, that “the truth” was his prisoner, the one he was about to crucify. Jesus said that in another context, “I am the truth” (In. 14:6).

Now that we have Pilate’s question set right, we might apply it to our own confusion about truth. This proposition will prove liberating to those who have ears to hear: All truths are equally true, but all truths are not equally important.

Many truths in the Bible are but incidental (Jesus’ mother’s name was Mary), others are important (Paul was caught up to Paradise), while only a few are crucial or essential, constituting the truth or the gospel (Jesus died for our sins). One can be a Christian without knowing the name of Jesus’ mother, or even without knowing that Paul was caught up to Paradise, but not without knowing/believing that Jesus died for his sins.

To put it another way, it doesn’t matter what Mary’s name was, and Paul didn’t have to visit Paradise, but Jesus did have to die for our sins. There is a big difference between essential truths and non-essential ones, even when the non-essential ones may be very important. “In essentials, unity. .” we have always said. Essential to be saved, that is.

One might be confused about much of the Bible - even “in error” about a lot of things - and be right about what is essential, “the truth” of Jesus Christ, who is the great truth/fact of human history: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. This does not mean that all the other truths are not important, only that they are not essential.

When Robert Richardson questioned Pilate’s question, he was talking about one of our mottoes, Union in truth! The good doctor, who was physician to the Campbell family, was saying that yes, union/unity is in truth, but it is really in the truth, the truth of the gospel, not all biblical truths. He thus distinguished between the Bible and the gospel- the gospel is in the Bible, but not all the Bible is the gospel.

Unity in the truth, the gospel! But we have missed it, haven’t we, when we make our opinions, deductions, theories, theology, and methods all part of the truth or the gospel? There may be truths in our views of inspiration, the millennium, glossolalia, methods of worship, the ministry of women, etc., etc., but none of these are “the truth” of the gospel.

Grave social issues like abortion, homosexuality, capital punishment, genetic engineering cause serious disagreement, but we can keep on loving and accepting one another because the truth of the gospel binds us as one.

We can and will differ on truths, or what we presume to be truths, but not on the truth of Jesus Christ. We might even compromise our opinions (without violating our conscience), but we can never compromise the truth of the gospel. Even unto death itself!

Unity in (the) truth that Jesus is Lord, the risen Christ! Can there ever be any other kind of true unity? If Dr. Richardson helped Pilate along, maybe he can help us. – Leroy

OUR CHANGING WORLD

Ouida joined me in a recent visit to St. Louis Christian College where I gave lectures named for Russell Boatman, an old friend. I spoke on “Our Heritage At Its Best.” We enjoyed our two-day visit on campus. The college has a well-qualified, dedicated faculty. We enjoyed the exchange with the students. On the following Lord’s day I spoke at the Fenton Church of Christ in Fenton, Mo. We were guests that weekend in the home of Mike/Anthea Wrinkle, our nephew/ niece.

We flew from St. Louis to Norfolk where we were guests of Ken! Joni McFelia on their yacht, which Ken calls a ketch, which is moored at Langley AFB. The ketch is well-named “Spirit of Unity” in that Ken uses it to bring leaders of our heritage together. He took 20 of us out on the Chesapeake Bay for sights, food, and fellowship. I was pleased to serve as the resource guest. It was also a joy to speak at the Northwest Christian Church in Newport News while there. Ken also took us to Jamestown. His and Joni’s ministry is as effective as it is unique.

In October I attended Promise Keepers held in Texas Stadium in Dallas, with some 40,000 men of all ages. While the program was integrated, the attendees were 99% white. It was my first, and I was favorably impressed. They really revved it up in song and praise, even whistling (Did you ever hear 40,000 men whistle?) They were urged to be devoted to their wives and family, and to be at work in their churches. And to be financially responsible. Jesus Christ was the focus. I saw quite a number of folk I knew from area Churches of Christ.

I had two unusually delightful experiences in November while attending our trustees meeting of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society in Nashville. The first was to speak at our trustees dinner meeting on “David Lipscomb” on the campus of David Lipscomb University - and in the old home of the Lipscombs, known as Avalon House. That was something, talking to history buffs about “Uncle Dave” in the old hero’s own restored home on the campus of the university he founded.

The other delight was to speak to a large (over 100) adult class at Woodmont Hills Church of Christ on our heritage.

During November we buried the last of my six older siblings, a brother who died at 92. Out of a family of ten, counting our parents, only my younger brother Bill and I are left. As our older brothers began to die, the surviving ones would say, “We’re next.” Now Bill and I realize we’re next, but in our case it will be the last of a family. So it is with all families. We are here, young and vibrant, then we are old and not so vibrant, and then we are gone. The brevity of it all should lead us to take the issues of life and death more seriously.

READER’S EXCHANGE

Please send your revised edition of The Stone-Campbell Movement. I have read the first edition but want this second edition for our church library. This will be my last year of teaching school, at 70. I will miss the witness to the students. You and Carl Ketcherside have set a good example for me to follow through the years. - George O. Laskey, Sullivan, In.

Enclosed is a check for the 12-volume set of The Works of Carl Ketcherside. If I ever had a hero, Carl would be mine. I’ve found his writing thoughtful, thought-provoking, and delightful. - Mary Lou Hart, Melbourne, Fl.

Your writings have helped me to “keep my head” about unity and love. Stan McDaniel introduced me to your writings while I was at Johnson Bible College in the 70s. I met you on one of your visits to Johnson. Through the years I have been a member of all three expressions of the Stone-Campbell movement. I always find a ready audience to the “unity in diversity” teaching. -Doug Plaster, Greensboro, NC.

I always appreciate your newsletter, even when I disagree, which is very seldom. But your question, “Are we to worship the Holy Spirit?,” reminds me too much of our movement’s typical antitheological theology, which is ultimately rooted in an antihistorical bias that I think you have mostly overcome. None of us, as you well understand, get our way of being Christians directly from the New Testament. - Bob Ross, Lexington, Ky.

My brethren in the one-cup segment of Churches of Christ continue to be one of the most difficult to communicate with relative to a broader view of fellowship and other pertinent issues. Yet inroads have been made and this makes the party leaders even more clandestine and fearful. - Jim Albert, Box 811, Corcoran, Ca. 93212.

(The “one-cup” brethren are also our brethren and we love them everyone, even when they are suspicious of a broader view of fellowship. Give them time! They are not all that different from the rest of us. Jim Albert issues an interesting newsletter that you can receive for the asking.)

Every year I want to say it all. Impossible! I want to write some profound bottom line. Impossible! So for each of you beloved ones, thank you for befriending us all through our years. You are Christmas in our hearts each time we think of you. You are an inspiration and a ray of hope. - Kathy and Phil Wyler, Kerrville, Tx.

BOOK NOTES

Norvel Young’s new book, Living Lights, Shining Stars, draws upon his long and interesting life in Churches of Christ, in pulpit as well as academia. It tugs at your heart as he candidly shares both the lows and highs of his eventful life. It also lists his 10 secrets for becoming the light of the world. $17 postpaid.

Those of us who have read Tom Olbricht’s Hearing God’ s Word: My Life with Scripture in Churches of Christ give it high marks for several reasons: It is helpful in learning to handle the Bible aright, providing insightful principles of interpretation; it helps to define who we are in Churches of Christ, both the good and not so good; it is an autobiography of one of our more thoughtful leaders. $13 postpaid.

Shelburne has proven himself to be an interesting and resourceful writer, one that has something to say. His first book, The God Who Puts Us Back Together, was so on-target that-it called for another titled Expect The Light. Both books speak to the heart in that they tell us how to deal with life’s darkest moments. They are $13 each or $25 for both. Ideal as a gift, or to read and pass along.

Edward Fudge’s The Fire That Consumes challenges the traditional view that the fire of hell is endless. The wicked will be punished to be sure, but it is a fire that consumes, “destruction” as the Bible puts it. You will be impressed. Highly recommended. $14 postpaid.

Those who have purchased The Works of Carl Ketcherside are delighted -- and the price is right, only $185 for 12 large, handsome, hardcover volumes, postpaid. Reprints like this have a way of going fast. You had better order now if you are interested. Our price is 15% off.

I am of course pleased that my new edition of The Stone--Campbell Movement is selling well and is appreciated by the rank and file. Much of this second edition is rewritten and there are several new chapters. Many are sold for church libraries and college classes. An appropriate gift to anyone interested in our heritage. $25 postpaid.

I have written a review of Christians On the Oregon Trail by Jerry Rushford for the new Stone-Campbell Journal, so I got well acquainted with it. I highly recommend it to those interested in regional accounts of our history. $17 postpaid.

We can still offer five bound volumes of Restoration Review, which is 10 years of publication, 1983-92, 400 pages each. These are hardcover, matching volumes, with dust jackets. Each volume has an introduction and a table of contents. While we had thousands of these bound, we now have only 87 left. You may order individual volumes, such as 1991-92, at $15 each. All five volumes, $65 postpaid.

Ps. 136:

My Version (To Our Ladies’ Class)

The Lord gave me a godly mother,