The Greatest Sin

What is considered the greatest sin?

Sin, in general, across all major religions, are transgressions against the deity, acts that separate you from God's divine love.  It is your willful decisions to do things that remove you from that spirit.

What can you do to separate yourself from God?  What shows your defiance of him?  Could it be the denial of his existence?  I suppose.  But there is wide discretion displayed in many holy works.  Jesus receives those who display love for him even their practises are not deemed proper by the pharisees.  The first followers of Jesus bring people into the fold even if they don't follow all of the Jewish customs, such as circumcision.  So it seems that love of God is not bound by cultural taboos, or by particular styles of worship.

Idolatry, the worship of things other than God, is considered the greatest sin against God.  Interestingly, the earlier parts of the Bible seems to imply that there were other gods (such as the household gods that are mentioned as part of early Jewish homes), but none of them rose to the level of the God." Thou shalt have no other gods before me"  makes it implicit that there are other gods one could potentially be put ahead of the God.  Later, as the other gods fade away, the new competitors to God are the worship of material things, or of self.

What is important is how we reflect that love of God.  And overwhelming it is through how we love our fellow man.  How we treat each other becomes paramount. As Rabbi Hillel said, who lived in the time of Jesus's early childhood, That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it."   (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

It's the Golden Rule, seen throughout the great religions, in one form or another.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Simple to say, and often so very difficult to follow.  And thus comes the predominance of sin, and our struggle with it.

What sin that is a violation of love of neighbor is most often mentioned in the Bible?  It is usury.  And by that is meant more than just the charging of interest for the use of money (although that should not be dismissed in importance).  It is the exploitation of the poor and disadvantaged by the well off.  Sodom and Gomorrah were taken out not because of homosexuality, but because their people had become inhospitable, turning their backs on strangers, and even their own poor.

The prophets rail against how society is treating the disadvantaged, and warn about God's judgment for such behavior. Jesus rails against the same things, and is angered by how we treat each other.

Everyone is a sinner.  It is hard to deal in the world and not fall short.  That does not mean one should stop trying.

Stop setting idols ahead of God.  In our society, that is overwhelmingly the love of money and material things.  It is dwelling more on the Kardashians than the Holy Spirit.  It is dreaming more of a new car than the grace of God.  The Prosperity Gospel is a heresy and a source of sin, not a blessing.

Start doing things that makes the world a better place for your fellow man.  Follow the Golden Rule.

Do not confuse cultural mores and taboos with sin.  Sin is not specific.  It is about love of God and man.  It doesn't matter, except to your own culture, whether or not you eat shellfish.  God and Jesus do not care. God does care when you try to beat you wife and children into submission.  That is male dominance, and whatever the cultural aspects of the Bible say about it, it is wrong and evil and sinful to treat people that way. It is a clear and grotesque violation of the Golden Rule.

Ask yourself this about the worship place you go to.  If a loving gay couple come to your worship doors, who are committed consensual adults, who in their actions and thoughts express and demonstrate love for their fellow man, would you let them in?  Would you be completely open, or would you embrace but with the idea of "love the sinner but hate the sin", and that they could be accepted if they stop sinning.  Well, if you kept them out, or allowed them in with the provision that stop "practicing", you would be wrong.  Being gay is not a sin.  It is a cultural taboo, and has nothing to do with sin or God.

If a man came in who made his living charging the poor ten times the normal rate of interest for goods and services, and pursued the repossession of goods when they fell behind, would you let them in?  Honestly, most modern places of worship would let him in without a second's thought.  And yet, he is the true sinner, clearly violating the Golden Rule, exploiting the disadvantaged in the most cruel fashion.  Most would let him without even thinking they were a sinner and in need of repentance.  Why?  Because in our society, what that are doing is culturally acceptable.  It is not taboo.  But just because it is not taboo, doesn't mean it is not a sin.  Idolizing money and excessive profit does not show love of God.  Exploiting your fellow man to enrich yourself does not show love of man.

Look beyond culture.  Look beyond the nation state.  Look to God.  Look to your fellow man.

So easy to say.  So difficult to do.

But we must try.  We must always try.