This word has obvious spiritual applications, especially as it relates to matters of temptation and sin. In other words, people often rationalize sin. Sin is bad. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), leads to spiritual death (Romans 6:23) and is what prompted God to send His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer an agonizing death on the cross for the sins of the world (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
And yet the appeal of sin is often strong, and in moments of weakness, we find ourselves justifying the sin, or making it out to be less bad. Perhaps we feel that we deserve this sin, or that God will understand, or that "we're just human, after all."
Or maybe we rationalize sin by comparing it to a sin that we feel is worse. Have you ever done this? I know some folks in the Bible who rationalized sin in this manner.
Consider the story of Joseph from Genesis 37:
"Now when they [Joseph's brothers] saw him [Joseph] afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to KILL him" (vs. 18).
"So Judah said to his brothers, 'What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' And his brothers listened" (vs. 26-27).Joseph's brothers had come to despise him. They were envious of the fact that he was their father's favorite son. They were enraged by Joseph's account of his dreams; the notion that he would actually rule over them and that they would bow down to him...was absurd, foolish and unthinkable. Their bitterness had gradually morphed into anger, and then rage, and now they were on the verge of murdering Joseph.
Maybe they were all feeling a little guilty, or at least hesitant to carry out the crime. As much as they hated him, perhaps they were just a wee bit uncomfortable with the thought of murdering him. Or maybe it was just Judah who was hesitant. I don't know. What I do know is that Judah is the one that spoke up, and this is where we find the instance of rationalization.
Was it sinful to harbor such bitter feelings toward Joseph? Yes. Was it sinful to have such thoughts of violence? Yes. Was it sinful to sell Joseph to the Midiante traders? Absolutely. But on the other hand, they had been prepared to murder him. So in comparison, selling Joseph into slavery wasn't nearly as bad; in fact, it was a rational alternative to murder.
I can almost see Joseph's brothers feeling pretty proud of themselves for having taken the higher road. Almost a sigh of relief. Maybe there was a hint of guilt, but it was nothing compared to the guilt they would have had if they had actually murdered him in cold blood. Now Reuben wasn't a part of this sinister scheme, and I'm not sure that Benjamin was either (he may have stayed at home, being that he was the youngest), but at least nine of Joseph's brothers "justified behavior normally viewed as unacceptable by offering a rational explanation" or alternative. They rationalized their sin by comparing it to the "worse" sin of murder.
We sometimes do this very thing.
"At least I'm not as bad as other people."
"At least I didn't do __________" (fill in the blank with a sin that we think is worse).
"I've done worse things in my life."What's that? You want me to be more specific. Okay.
Example #1: According to Matthew 5:28, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And yet Christians sometimes rationalize lust by saying, "At least I didn't commit fornication," or, "At least we didn't go all the way," or, "Everyone does it" (referring to kissing, making-out, spooning, groping...you know, "normal" boyfriend/girlfriend behavior). Folks, lust is wrong, and it's no less wrong than the sin of fornication.
Example #2: Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." And yet sometimes Christians rationalize harsh and rude behavior by saying, "Well, at least I didn't yell," or, "At least I didn't hit 'em." We see violence as worse than rude behavior. We think that it's worse to make a scene than it is to slip them a snide, unkind remark. We pat ourselves on the back for having such self-control when all we've done is rationalized sin by contrasting what we did to what we could have done (which, in our minds, would have been "worse"),
Example #3: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Oftentimes, Christians settle for half of the equation. They put such effort into outward worship, and so therefore it's okay that they don't feel that passion for the Lord inwardly. OR...they feel such passion for the Lord inwardly, and they feel so good about their worship, and so spiritual, so therefore it doesn't really matter that their worship is based in human tradition rather than divine truth. As John 4:24 says, in order for our worship to be acceptable to God, we must worship in spirit as well as in truth. Anything less than this is insufficient.
Many other examples could be given, but suffice it to say, sin is sin. Let's not give into the temptation to rationalize one sin by comparing it to something "worse." Such a disposition will only lead us away from God and salvation.
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