All the...small things...

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There are things that we learn as we mature in our faith and things we should know right from the beginning of the journey.  For instance, we know that Jesus is the Christ from the beginning of our walk in Christianity, but later learn how the Gospel can fully change our heart so that even the jokes we laugh at will change.  However, there is a category of lessons that we should be taught right at the beginning of our faith so we do not have to experience the pain of learning the lessons later.  This is one of the reasons I advocate discipleship so actively because in the context of discipleship we can learn such lessons from those who have suffered through discipline and pain.  In learning these lessons, we can avoid the discipline and pain ourselves.

I have learned, time and time again, that there is no such thing as a small sin.  This lesson seems to be so cliché that most Christians gloss over it until they actually are forced to learn the lesson themselves.  It is usually taught by the conservative pastor who also thinks that drinking beer and dancing are intrinsically evil, so most emerging believers tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater and fail to heed the wisdom offered by saints who have endured a whole lot of pain.  The "no sin is small" lesson is typically learned suddenly and in devastation and pain.  Believers wake up one morning to find themselves in situations they never imagined they could be in, asking themselves, "How did I get here?"  Well, it is because they believed Satan when he said, "It's not that big of a deal."

Small sins.  White lies.  The little flirt here.  The extra cookie.  The extra five minutes on the lunch break.  The quick judgmental thought.  Watching the television show with one too many sex scenes.  The list goes on.  Satan enjoys lying to you, telling you that these things are not that big of a deal because the road to the big trap is filled with little "not that big of a deal" traps.  Each of these traps, when walked into in perfect succession can lead to the big traps of losing integrity, adultery, gluttony, greed, pride and lust.  Suddenly the little flirt evolves into a little text and a little text evolves into a little smile and a little smile evolves into a little joke and a little joke evolves into hanging out and that evolves into a romantic glance and the little romantic glance evolves into a romantic touch and bam!  Trap.  Or the extra piece of pizza because it's Friday evolves into the extra two pieces because it's Saturday evolves into the extra desert because it's Sunday which evolves into the extra two pieces of pizza with an extra desert on Monday because it's the beginning of the week which evolves into gained weight which over a period of time evolves into gluttony!  Trap.  Or five extra minutes on the lunch break evolves into leaving five minutes early which evolves into arriving five minutes late which evolves into taking stamps from work because "you work hard and you need it" which evolves into not clocking out when you take your lunch and bam!  Trap.  You're now a thief, possibly without a job.  And then each of these situations has a spiritual ramification, affecting our relationship with God and with those we love and/or serve.  It only takes an ember to start a fire.

Sometimes, small things do not evolve and they remain small.  That does not mean that the small things do not cause pain or hurt.  Sometimes, the snide comment can be small but it hurts a lot.  Or from the aforementioned examples, maybe just sending the text message is enough to cause strife or maybe taking the extra five minutes on the lunch break is enough to earn a write up from the boss.  While these things may not evolve like they possibly could, that does not make them insignificant.

Some of you may think that this is a bit extreme, that perhaps I am blowing things out of proportion.  If that is what you are thinking, then my prayer is that God is merciful with you when He allows you to learn the lesson that no sin is small.  No oversight is small.  There is one bigger mistake than failing to learn that no sin is too small: to think that it could never happen to you.  If you think that you are too careful and make stupid statements like "I would never do that" or "Rest assured, I wouldn't do that to you" or "That's not in my character," remember Satan heard that and will now do all he can to slaughter you.  He hates you just as much as he hates God.

If a woman came up to a married Christian man and said, "Hello, I'm a prostitute and would like to have sexual intercourse with you so I can give you a sexually transmitted disease for you to bring home to your wife," we would hope that man would say, "Um, no."  Yet if a young woman from church walked up to him and said, "I need some help around the house, maybe you could come over on Saturday," the answer may not be so obvious.  Satan isn't going to throw a fast ball directly down home plate, he's going to throw a sinker or a curve ball to deceive you.

I am learning this lesson in my own life and I have seen the effects of thinking something is not a big deal.  People get hurt.  They question your integrity.  It feels awful.  My prayer is that God restores all things and hearts.  Apologies help, but they do not heal.  Only the Holy Spirit does that.  And as awful as this sounds, I am thankful to God for teaching me this lesson through small things and preventing a big one from happening. True story.