Sins of Omission

I missed something Sunday that I think needs to be addressed. As I was reflecting on this past Sunday’s message, I had a revelation. Well, it really came as a “Oh shoot, Chip, this would have been helpful to address in our conversation on Sin in the Camp.”

We talked about the importance of not hiding. We can’t keep sinning and we can’t have relationships where sin is not addressed. We each have blind spots where we have trouble seeing our own sin (gossip, love of money – for example).

What I failed to address are sins of omission. If God tells us to do something and we don’t do it, we are being disobedient. We sin.

If God says, “love your enemy,” and we don’t do it (with God’s help), it is an act of disobedience.

As I’ve pondered this in my own life, this is where the sin comes to the surface for me. It is in the sins of omission. It is not doing what God has commanded me to do.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, to compare these sins of omission with the common sins we think of. I talked about the sin of pornography last week and there is no question of its impact on those around us. We have no trouble calling this sin. Yet, if compared with a not praying or not meeting the needs of the least of these, we might be tempted to say the sin of pornography is much worse. It hurts more. Does it? Is that really true? Is it true that doing those things we are not supposed to do (gossip, stealing, lying, sexual immorality, etc.) is WORSE THAN not doing those things we are commanded to do (prayer, Bible reading, storing up treasures in heaven, loving our neighbor, giving our time and money away)?

Does it hurt others when I don’t pray, meditate on Scripture, be a poor steward, not love, not give, etc.?

I believe the answer is a definite YES. It hurts others when I am disobedient to those commands that God calls me to live out. When I don’t do what He asks, it not only hurts me, it hurts those around me. It hinders God’s kingdom from coming and being experienced by the people in my life.

So maybe you wrestled with the message on Sunday because you had trouble coming up with your place(s) of habitual disobedience. Does this help to pinpoint those places when you include our sins of omission? It sure helped me. I’m not saying I am enjoying this conviction, but in order to be complete in our understanding of the sins in our camps, I believe we need to include this significant piece of Scripture. God didn’t just tell us what not to do, He was clear on what we are called to do. There is definitely a lot of room for growth when it comes to addressing (only by God’s help & power) my sins of omission. I’ve omitted some of what He’s asked me to do and that needs to change.

Imagine Abraham’s life if he had not gone to the land God would show him – sin of omission.
Imagine Moses’ life if he had not spoken with Pharaoh.
Imagine Paul’s life if he had not proclaimed the Gospel.

You can avoid all the sins of commission (lying, stealing, coveting, killing, cheating, gossiping, etc.) and still have sin guiding your life.

Sin in the camp includes our unwillingness to do ALL that we’ve been commanded to do.