He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. – Jeremiah 51:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 22, 2020): Jeremiah 51

Billy Graham once argued that “Nothing can alter the fact that God calls perversion sin.” And while I agree with Graham’s assessment, I also struggle mightily with it. The problem, as I see it, is that too often, the diagnosis of perversion lies in our hands, and not God’s. We don’t want to have the hard discussions about what God might consider sin. Perversion and sin always live in the house of the other. It is simply not our problem; it is theirs.

That is until we come into contact with people outside of the church. We often preach and talk against what I call the “big-ticket sins” and perversions. Sexual sin usually tops the list as does abortion. It is impressive that the same people who think that war is not a problem, are angered at the very thought of abortion. And yet, both entail the killing of innocent people. Why is it that one, at least under certain conditions, is fine, while the other is a sin so big that we think God is shaking the very foundations of the world because of its existence. The answer is that we are ones who have defined the perversion. What it is that makes us angry, makes God angry. And what it is that does not affect us also does not affect God.

I have constant conversations with people outside of the church, and it is sometimes interesting to hear their definition of sin. One writes, “In my opinion, the most entitled people on earth hangout in church doorways!” Or maybe this one, “I have always known that Christians are bullies. Yet, you have to choose your victims very carefully so that you don’t make everyone stop attending church!” Or maybe this one. “The true goal of Christianity is to establish a dictatorship, and then find someone to blame!” The problem with each of these statements from the outside is that they represent a significant perversion of the Christian message, and according to Billy Graham, God calls perversion sin. And the reality is that they also pose a more significant threat to Christianity than the problem of sexual immorality, abortion, or euthanasia. The former are things that we could do something about, messages against which we could immunize our churches against if we really wanted. But the people who carry these feelings are instead tossed out of our fellowships without a thought. And the horrible truth is that most of them, we don’t even miss.

Jeremiah reminds his readers that the earth belongs to God. They are part of his power, his understanding, his wisdom. And that is what is essential. Maybe instead of protesting against our big-ticket sins, we would be better served by trying to understand this world with the heart of God and recognize that the biggest perversion is not what we label as sin, but a church that is ruled by man’s belief rather than the love of God.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Lamentations 1