Precious Dogs

The other night, we were talking to the kids about what fighting sin looks like, and as an illustration to show them that it really is fighting, and not too pretty, Nathan asked them what they would do if a big dog ran at them and started attacking them. He then described how they would fight back - kicking and pushing and punching and yelling and doing everything they could to get the dog off of them. And their immediate question was, "But what if it was the neighbour's dog? Or what if it was Coco (our dog)? We wouldn't want to hurt her."

Sounds kind of silly, because you and I know that if you were being attacked by a dog, any dog, the survival instinct would kick in and it wouldn't matter so much whose dog it was. You'd just want to come away as whole as possible, and you'd do whatever it took to come out the winner in that fight. At the time, we kind of dismissed the kids' question as childish and ignorant.

But it occurred to me later, as I thought about it, that when it comes to fighting sin, we often ask the very same question. We are willing and eager to fight those big ugly sins out there, the ones that don't come too close to us on a daily basis, the ones that look mean and vicious to begin with. You know, like stealing expensive electronics, or having an affair or an abortion, or killing someone out of revenge. We won't even go close enough to those sins to risk being attacked by them.

But what about those cute little sins that are close to us? The ones that help us keep a good reputation with our neighbours? The ones that sit in our home and make us feel all warm and cuddly? We all have little pet sins that we keep close to us, even as they bite us in the face. We rationalize, "Maybe it causes a little damage, but it's only a little damage, and if I really fight it, I might damage something precious to me. Not to mention that fighting is hard and requires effort. I'd rather just sit here and stroke my sweet puppy dog."

It might be pride that manifests itself in working too long and too hard to get everything done (I wouldn't know anything about that!), even when it creates tension in relationships and unhealthy physical strain. But if I stop working, and humble myself, the house will get out of control and I won't feel good about my home management. It might be anxiety over my circumstances that I justify because if I don't think through every possibility, I won't be prepared, or my life might spin out of control. It might be subtle hatred of certain people that is okay because I don't actually do anything overtly mean to them, and besides, they deserve it for their nasty attitude. It might be laziness that shows up in wasting hours of precious time on facebook because if I actually gave it up or cut back my usage, I might miss something important or interesting. I mean, I might even hurt a friend if I didn't see and "like" any of her posts today!

We find all sorts of creative ways to justify "little", "respectable" sins in our lives. If it gives us any perk at all, we rationalize it. If our sin results in any extra self-esteem ("Good job, Sarah! You finished your to-do list!), any positive change in our reputation ("I'm not really lying; it's just a little exaggeration!" ), any extra pleasure ("A little time browsing the internet never hurt anyone, right?), we are reluctant to fight it, quick to make excuses. We weigh our sin and its benefits in the balance, and find obedience wanting.

But when the Bible says "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), it's not just referring to gross immorality, heinous crimes. Any sin, even taking one bite of one piece of forbidden fruit, is enough to separate us from a holy God forever and be fully deserving of the full blast of His wrath. We think of these sins as harmless, but we don't see the ugly, deforming damage they are doing to us. We don't see the devil behind them, pulling us down and away from God. We ignore the death threats for the sake of preserving our nice little pet sins.

Christian, Christ bought us with his own blood to save us from God's wrath, not only against our great rebellions and large transgressions. He bought us to save us from God's wrath against our little prides, our little anxieties, our little white lies, our poor stewardship, our small outbursts of anger. John says that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practise the truth... If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:5,6,8,10) We must fight to stay in the light, to confess our sins--no matter how small, to live in holiness in all we think, say and do.

And the glorious news of 1 John is that "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7,9) There is forgiveness for all sins, both big and small. But we must repent of them and pursue holiness!

Are you stroking your dear pet dog even as it destroys you? Or are you willing to put that rabid dog down for your own safety and well-being, and for God's glory in your life?