Growing up I heard many sermons, both in person and on television. And if you would have sat me down at about age 18 and asked me to come up with a list of the 6 things I thought that God hated the most, I would have probably given you something like the following:
- drinking
- cussing
- smoking
- chewing tobacco
- doing drugs
- speeding in my car
You see, I , like many of my friends, had been “indoctrinated” through exposure to religious services, books, tapes (Yes, we had tapes back then) and other forms of media. But that’s not all; a majority of the influence I received that helped me mold my beliefs originated from Hollywood – in the form of sitcoms, cartoons, and movies that represented “Christian” stereotypes.
And sometimes people only believe what they WANT to believe anyway; it is far too easy to call out a list of sins of the “flesh” than to ponder what God REALLY says.
But guess what? We don’t HAVE to wonder what God does not like. He tells us plainly in Proverbs exactly which sins he hates most:
“16 There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
(Proverbs 6:6-19 NLT)
Now the REAL version of the 6 things God hates is NOT good news. If God hated just the things on MY list, then it would be MUCH easier to please him. I could simply carry around my list to remind me of certain “Don’ts” and I would fine.
In fact, that is what most of us do. We have this imaginary list of things we think God does (and doesn’t) want us to do…and we think that if we play the game, then we are going to be in God’s good graces.
“Let’s see, now…if I go to church on Sunday, read the Bible and say an obligatory prayer every now and then, God will be happy, right?”
But when I read the passage carefully, I am quickly ashamed, for in it, I see things that I have done. No, I haven’t caused the death of an innocent person (or a guilty one for that matter), but how many times have I “killed” someone with my unruly tongue? How many times have I done something to cause discord in my family? I could go on…
The bottom line is that what most folks think is sin, is only sin if it is a sin of excess. I don’t think God cares about an occasional glass of wine at dinner or a fine cigar on a special occasion unless these so-called “vices” are overdone. But is there such a thing as a LITTLE lie or a LITTLE bit of reputation-damaging gossip that God finds acceptable?
There are times when I like MY list better, but maybe that’s because I feel uneasy when I read His.
