The Circles of Sin

Ever read Dante's Inferno? If you haven't, I should probably warn you that it's a little explicit. Basically, it's a perspective of what Hell might actually be like. It's divided into nine "circles" which are creatively referred to as The Nine Circles of Hell. Each sin carries a certain weight, and each person is judged in a greater or lesser way depending on the seriousness of their sin. Interesting concept, but is that really how it works? Is there any sin that separates someone from the pack?

I began reading the book of Romans today. Romans 1 is probably one of the most infamous passages in all of Scripture, simply because of how it refers to the sin of homosexuality. Pastors across the U.S. and abroad have pounded their pulpits with the passage, yelling against the homosexual community as if they were a bunch of animals.

...Disclaimer...

I am not endorsing homosexuality, nor am I stating that it's not a sin. I believe firmly that the Scripture indicates it being a sin that has corrupted one of the original foundations laid out at the beginning of time: marriage between one man and one woman. Please to not interpret this as me siding with homosexuality.

...End of Disclaimer...

The passage carried out as I remembered it after reading it so many times when needing to answer to homosexuality. Then, I noticed the following verses. More specifically, this is Romans 1:29-31. It begins to talk about the hearts of these people who up to this point all we know is they turned to homosexuality. Go ahead and read it for yourself. Does it say that they were filled with homosexuality? Wait, no?

Surprisingly, it says they were filled with covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, hate toward God, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, disobedience to parents, foolishness and faithlessness. So wait, is this a passage about homosexuality of not? Nope. It's a passage about sin. Isn't it funny how it mentions a sin that we've come to put on such a high pedestal right along with disobedience, foolishness and deceit? What about slander? I was going to list gossip, but I realized that not enough people struggled with that.

If God doesn't see a difference in these sins, why do we? Even if we say we don't, we act like we do. Homosexuality aside, what about people who stubble with alcoholism and addiction? Don't we put them in the same kind of category? We do a great job at pointing fingers at other people, but run and hide if the finger ever points to us. Instead of acting perfect to an imperfect world, we need to come to them as people who are vulnerable, people with struggles, and people who above all need grace. I heard someone once say that evangelism is one beggar showing another where to find bread. Such a profound statement. We have the exact same problems. We just know where to find the Truth.

Now, the finger points at you. How are YOU living?