What's Your Favorite Sin?

The apostle Paul experienced the internal struggle that you may can relate to:  wanting to do better, feel better, or be better, even wanting to please God, but missing the mark - perhaps regularly:
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Do you sometimes feel "wretched"?   We are sinful creatures, but we are also called saints - a contradiction, perhaps?   Well, not necessarily - it's a matter of identity vs. behavior.   We are new creatures in Christ - that's who we are, but we also have areas of vulnerability and are tempted to sin by internal desires and the lures and traps that the enemy would set for us.  But, God has given us powerful resources in order to combat temptation, to escape the guilt, and to experience true freedom - it's a struggle, sometimes an intense one, but we can hold on to the promise that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

James chapter 1 gives a great indication about the process of temptation, beginning in verse 14:
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

You may remember that on The Meeting House a few months ago, I had Todd Hunter as a guest.   He has written the book, Our Favorite Sins, in which he outlines some survey data gathered by Barna that indicates which sinful behaviors Americans commonly participate in.    Barna has released some of the data within the past few days, and the results are quite informative regarding what actually tempts us to sin:

One of the emerging areas involves technology.  According to Barna's website, the research shows nearly half of Americans (44%) say they are tempted to spend too much time with media, including the Internet, television and video games. Another “new” media-related temptation is to express anger or “go off” on someone by text or email. Overall, one out of nine Americans (11%) say they often or sometimes feel tempted to do this.

Though sexual sins are nothing new, viewing pornography online continues to escalate and take on new forms as the Internet and social media evolve. Nearly one in five Americans (18%) say they are tempted to view pornography or sexually inappropriate content online. Men more commonly admit being tempted to view porn than women (28% versus 8%).

I think it is interesting, as Barna points out, the more serious the sin, the fewer people admit to being tempted by it. Which, perhaps explains why “eating too much” is up near the top of the list of admitted temptations—more than half (55%) say they are tempted to overeat. While doing something sexually inappropriate with someone is at the bottom—less than one in ten Americans (9%) admit to this.

When it comes to other more “traditional” sins, about one-third of Americans admit to spending too much money (35%), one-quarter say they are tempted to gossip or say mean things about others (26%), a similar number struggle with envy or jealousy (24%), a little more than one in ten admit to being tempted to lie or cheat (12%) and about the same number say they are tempted by alcohol or drugs (11%).

There are also what are regarded as uniquely "Western" sins.   For instance, three out of five (60%) Americans say they are tempted to worry or be anxious and the same number say procrastination or putting things off is a serious temptation for them. In a similar vein, 41% of Americans say they are tempted to be lazy and not work as hard as they should.

Why do people give in to temptation?  Half of the respondents say they don’t know.  Of those who could identify a reason, one in five (20%) say they give in to escape or get away from “real life” for a while. Other responses given were listed by less than one in ten, but included: to feel less pain or loneliness, to satisfy people’s expectations, to take a shortcut to success, for personal pleasure or because “I enjoy it”, or simply as a result of human or sinful nature.

Interestingly enough and troubling - most Americans (59%) say they don’t do anything specific to avoid the tempting situation.  Almost 2-in-10 say they pray, with only about 10% saying they just say "no".

Sin is serious business.   And, the Bible is clear that we are tempted according to our own unique vulnerabilities.   Sin activates the pride within our hearts - we decide that our way is better than God's way.   Pride is what truly drives us to choose the wrong path - it drives us to envy and jealousy, to put others down, or to engage in pleasures that don't line up with God's standards.   But, we can overcome it - God has given us the tools, through prayer, through knowing and applying His word, and responding in a Biblical manner when the Holy Spirit points out our sin and convicts us - we must confess our sins and repent of those activities not pleasing to Him.