Don't send sin underground.

Christianity, as a whole, has a problem with sin. You're probably thinking, "Of course we do, we're human beings, and human beings sin." That is true, but that's not what I'm talking about when I say we have a problem with sin. We actually have several problems with sin. And these problems cause us to send our sin underground, rather than bringing it to the light, as we should (Ephesians 5:8-13). I’ll address three of these problems, and how to move past them as a community.

The Church is a community that is supposed to be growing spiritually together; we can’t do that if we continue to send sin underground.

Our first problem with sin is that we categorize sins in order of severity. We think, “Well, I may lie occasionally, but I don't steal; that guy has the real problem.” Or, “I may get drunk occasionally, but I'm not watching pornography and lusting after some guy/girl; that guy has the real problem.” Or, “I may watch pornography and lust, but I don't commit adultery; that guy has the real problem.”

Wrong.

Dead wrong.

Sin is sin; and the penalty for breaking one is the same for breaking another (James 2:10-11; Romans 6:23). By ranking sins in order of severity we cause ourselves to hide our sins from one another, because of shame and fear of judgment. We need to recognize that all sin is equal in spiritual consequence, even if they have different physical consequences.

Our next problem with sin is that we don't talk about it, or, if we do, we talk about it in abstract, impersonal terms. We're supposed to help each other overcome sin: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16, English Standard Version). If we don’t know what our spiritual family is going through, how can we help them? We need to allow iron to “sharpen iron” (Proverbs 27:17) and start talking to each other about the sins that we’re struggling with.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying we need to word-vomit everything we are struggling through to anyone and everyone. What I am saying is that we need to be developing relationships with each other that allow us to talk about our struggles with sin without fear of judgment or condemnation.

Our next problem with sin is our inability to let it go—and I don’t mean the process of overcoming our own sins and letting go of committing that sin again. I mean once we know someone’s sin, we tend to hold that against them for a really long time, regardless of how they may change in the future. We can’t do that. We can’t keep punishing someone (and really, by continually judging someone for something they’ve done in the past we are punishing them) for something that they have overcome. If they have repented, God has forgiven them; it is as if it never happened (Isaiah 43:25). We have to give people the room to change, and if we always view them through the lens of this particular sin, we’re not giving them the room to do that. We all need mercy and forgiveness; we should be just as willing to give it as we are to receive it (Matthew 5:7; Matthew 6:14).

The Church is a community that is supposed to be growing spiritually together; we can’t do that if we continue to send sin underground.