RIDICULOUS SINS IN THE BIBLE

I must admit that I enjoy reading the posts on the atheistic website Quora. They provide a wealth of misinformation regarding the Bible. One enlightening post came from Jason Brody, who offers as his credentials the fact that he had “studied with many Masters such as Osho, Gangaji, Ichazo, and Sat Shree.”

Forgive me for not bowing down to his superior education, but I must also admit that I have never heard of any of these “Masters” before. Instead, let's just consider his gripe with the Bible, which concerns the fact that it labels as “sins” a number of common human traits that by no means should be considered as evil at all. I will address these ridiculous “sins” one at a time.

Telling Jokes (Ephesians 5:4)

Among a litany of practices which Paul says are not pleasing to God is constantly engaging in foolish talking and jesting. Simpson explains that this refers to the sort of “drolleries verging on obscenity ...sallies of festal license in vogue, and squalid indecency” common in Ephesus at the time of writing. “

These crying evils would flaunt as established, conventions of society in such libertine environments as Ephesus.” Thus, this teaching does not at all apply to simple jokes themselves. After all, Jesus was actually known for his lighthearted and humorous approach to teaching others.

Killing a Bird in its Nest (Deuteronomy 22:6)

I am amazed that Brody, with all his training under Eastern “masters,” finds any objection at all to this overtly humanitarian treatment of animals that went far beyond teachings of any other nation at the time. After all, the Hindus treat all animal life, including gnats, as holy.

Craigie discusses the Jewish rationale behind such a prohibition, which only specifically applies to a bird which is raising young chicks at the time. He feels that it is a practical conservation measure since “to take the mother and leave the others would not be possible, for they would not be able to survive without the mother. Thus by taking the young birds (or eggs) but letting the mother go, food was acquired without the source of food for the future being cut off. The legislation thus has something in common with modern conservation laws. The large-scale killing of any species can lead to a serious diminution in its numbers and to eventual extinction.”

Being a Vegetarian (I Timothy 4:1-4)

Now with this objection I can certainly see why Brody, with his background in Eastern beliefs, would balk at labeling vegetarianism as a sin. But that is not at all what Paul is implying. His objection instead is on those who attempt to impose their own restrictive diets on others. And in a Jewish context this meant strict observance of the Jewish food laws as a means of earning God's favor. More specifically, in the specific context of living a Christian life in the midst of a pagan culture, that applied to abstention from meat not prepared by kosher standards and from meat sold in the marketplace that could have possibly been earlier offered as a sacrifice to a pagan god.

Such externally imposed limitations on what is and is not acceptable to eat have no place in the Christian life, which instead is to be centered on gladly receiving what God has provided mankind for nourishment, rather than becoming embroiled again in the nit-picky arguments of the rabbis concerning the minutia of a diet acceptable to God. So it is not at all a case of labeling vegetarianism itself as a sin, but just misguided attempts to force others into accepting your personal perspective on the issue and/or insisting that any other view is a sin.

Being Imperfect (Matthew 5:48)

As a conclusion to a litany of the various ways in which a believer can please God, most having to do with loving attitudes and behavior toward others, Jesus summarizes it all with the admonition: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The first, and most important, thing to point out is that nowhere does Jesus even hint that lack of perfection in a Christian is a sin, as Brody states. Perfection is obviously being presented as the ultimate goal which a believer should pursue even though fully achieving it is impossible this side of the grave.

Secondly, as Albright and Mann note, “the word teleios in this context does not refer to moral perfection, but 'truth, sincerity'...It does not have here the later Greek meaning of being 'totally free of imperfection'...”

Seeking Wealth (I Timothy 6:9-10)

As most commentators will point out, being wealthy itself is not a sin and neither is even wanting to have more money. The problem is is what such desires can easily lead to, and it is these which are the actual sins. Both Jesus and Paul enumerate the nature of these very real temptations which are generally associated with an overwhelming desire for monetary gain – placing money rather than God as your idol, gaining money at the expense of other people, never being satisfied enough to stop accumulating more, and hoarding your possessions without sharing your blessings with others. These sins separate a person from both God and his fellow man. Knight notes that the desires here are called anoptos, 'foolish.' with “the primary emphasis being moral rather than intellectual...and blaberas, i.e., 'harmful' or injurious'...”

Planning Your Future (Matthew 6:34)

Hendricksen states, “Providing for tomorrow is one thing. To a certain extent this cannot be condemned. See Luke 16:8,9...becoming anxious for tomorrow is always wrong. The only right way to provide for tomorrow without at the same time being anxious is to take care that today the admonition of verse 33 ('But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness') is obeyed.”

Additionally, Jesus in his teachings warned against thinking that you are the complete master of your own fate and can by your own hard work achieve whatever goals you have set for yourself. To do that is to put yourself in the place of God and ignore the fact that you are ultimately dependent on Him as well as random circumstances totally beyond your control.

Asking for a Pay Raise (Luke 3:14)

This criticism is way out of line since it ignores the whole verse, which reads, “Soldiers also asked him [i.e. John the Baptist], 'And we, what should we do?' He said to them, 'Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations, and be satisfied with your wages.'”

Ellis explains that these were probably Jewish soldiers who were assigned to protect the tax collectors or soldiers of the Jewish puppet ruler. In either case, they were obviously government workers who did not have a union to protect them and had no way of increasing their income without using their power and position to illegally defraud others. John tells them them that that is not a viable option pleasing to God. This example says absolutely nothing regarding an employee in the private sector who feels he is being underpaid and complains to his boss.

If Brody wished to find a more applicable example, he should have instead chosen Jesus' parable of the workers in the field who were hired as day-laborers. Those people reached a mutually agreeable wage with their employer but then later complained when those hired later in the day received the same amount of money for much less time worked. (see Matthew 20).

But even this far more appropriate Scripture passage does not prove Brody's assertion that sins in the Bible are ridiculous since (a) the landowner defrauded absolutely no one in the process and (b) the parable is really teaching about God's rewards in heaven being equal for each person independent of how much of their life was spent serving the Lord. As France puts it, “[God's] generosity transcends human ideas of fairness. No one receives less than they deserve, but some receive far more.”

Loving Your Life (John 12:25)

“The parable in v. 24 is followed by a maxim-like saying concerning loving and hating life. For people of the world, even today the idea of 'hating life' seem to be too much to swallow. But one must remember the Semitic love for absolute contrasts in argument. Similar types of argument can be found in Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:24 concerning saving and losing one's life and in Matt 10:39 concerning finding and losing life.” The commentator who framed these words (and I have unfortunately lost his name) also points to passages such as Genesis 29:30-31; Malachi 1:2; Matthew 5:43; and Romans 9:13 which utilize this same literary device.

Being Anxious (Philippians 4:6)

To some extent, this issue was already addressed above when talking about Matthew 6:34. In addition, the comments of Hughes bear citing here: “Paul wasn't lounging under a palm on the Isle of Capri sipping a cool drink, dictating, 'Don't worry, be happy!' No detachment here. Paul's whole existence was on the bubble; danger was everywhere. Few things were going right for him, humanly speaking. So understand that the apostle's command came with feeling...Paul's command is an echo of Jesus' teaching to his disciples in Matthew 6:25-34. There Jesus identifies worry as simply pagan (v. 32) and asked his hearers to consider the birds of the air as examples of God's provision...The corollary to not worrying is to take up Paul's following command to pray ...(v.6b).” The result will be the peace of God.

Conclusion

Before ending this post, it needs to be pointed out that not a single one of the examples above really falls under the category of SIN. Instead they constitute rather gentle reminders and valuable advice to believers as to actions and mindsets that may pose potential pitfalls to their pursuit of the godly life.