Some books are worth reading multiple times. One such book it Creed or Chaos? by Dorothy L. Sayers, a book from which I have previously published several quotes.
A recent reading of the book brought to mind her discussion on the seven deadly sins and how the church has been selective in her renunciation of these sins. As listed in the book, the sins are:
Luxuria or Lust,
Ira or Wrath,
Gula or Gluttony,
Avaritia or Covetousness,
Invidia or Envy,
Acedia or Sloth,
Superbia or Pride
The average church has done much in denouncing the first sin but has a spotty record in working against the others. Rather than rehash Dorothy’s essay on the sins, I’ll let you go get a copy of the book (if you can find one) and read it for yourself. It would be worth the effort for you to do so.
What came to mind following a reading of this list is that we don’t have a sin problem as much as we have a worship problem.
When Jesus was asked to name the great command, he named love (and worship) of God as that command (Matthew 22:36-40). The second one is to love our neighbor. Since God loves our neighbor, it could be argued that the fulfillment of the second command is in response to the first command. Therefore, loving our neighbor is an aspect of our worship of God. It seems to me that if we did even a mediocre job of fulfilling these two commands, the seven deadly sins would not be an issue.
For example, lust is a desire to have something that I don’t currently have but think I really need. In our sexually charged culture, we think of lust primarily in terms of sexual attraction, but lust can be a desire for anything. If our desires are subjugated to our worship of God, then it seems that desire for other things would be diminished.
It would be difficult to exercise wrath when I am loving my neighbor as myself. A desire for a close relationship with God would displace food or drink or any other form of physical satisfaction as a proper goal for life. Avarice is the opposite of loving my neighbor; if I am loving my neighbor, I can’t be cheating him. If I am in worship of God, it is difficult to be envious of my neighbor. A proper concept of worship of God would motivate me to be a good steward of the resources that God provides to me. Being a good steward would prevent me from sloth in any aspect of my life. Finally, a right understanding of God’s righteousness and his provision on my behalf in Jesus Christ should mitigate my pride.
I hope that you get the picture from this very brief overview.
Proper worship of God is the foundation for the conquest of sin. Why is this the case? All seven of these sins result from man (me) pretending that his is in charge of his own destiny. All seven of these sins are acts of open rebellion against God.
But if I am worshiping God, if I am acknowledging my dependence upon him, then, and only then, I have the perspective to see these sins for what they are. They are ugly, no matter how much the culture around me (both church and state) seek to justify them or make them palatable.
createsjg says
August 17, 2013 at 10:23 AMI think it is both. But I think the sin comes first which determines who or what we worship. If there is not relationship with our Savior then He will not receive our worship. It’s called idolatry and comes in many forms.
Mark McIntyre says
August 18, 2013 at 3:25 PMYou’re right. Perhaps the title is a bit misleading, but that was not my intention. I suppose my main point is that if we address the sin problem without addressing the worship problem, then we are only doing behavior modification. I have spent too much time in churches that seek to fix people from the outside in. It doesn’t work. God needs to fix us from the inside out (as Jona rightly points out). If we get our worship straight, then I think that the sin behavior will certainly be decreased.
Jona Franklin says
August 12, 2013 at 4:46 PMHI! It’s me, Jona………I love what you wrote. I’ve oft described myself to people as an extreme fundamental Christian…….. I peruse and rest the whole of my Christ following foremost, on Just one scripture……and that one is the great commandment. I then follow it up by saying that the day that I am made perfect in the following of that,will be when I will consider how to Apply judgeMent towards others…….
ramonantonio345dt says
August 11, 2013 at 12:39 PMEven though I concur with the overall message I have a word of caution which I suggest we consider.
The command by Jesus was, and is in Jewish Torah, to LOVE God with all your hearts and all tour might. The command os not ” to worship” God. It never meant that and its not a problem of translation. Worshipping God was a derived custom following other commandments which God giveth in Leviticus, Numbers and other Writings. Tis was the cause of Jewish to develop more than 600 commandments and was also the direct cause of what Jesus adamantly combated, that worshipping had become something vacous and without meaning.
I think we do not have a worshiping problem and we will not solve anything by promoting worshipping as the answer. We must promote LOVE for God before anything else. Once weLove God worshiping Him comes naturally.
timbothecat says
August 11, 2013 at 8:05 PMMark is not talking about the act of worship here so much as the heart attitude which is born out of love for God. What you’re referring to is a religious exercise aimed at showing God how worthy we are, where as Mark’s post is referring to our response to God’s relationship with us. If we LOVE God with all of our heart and might, the worship that is done in spirit and in truth -as opposed to sad ritualistic religious exercises you have rightfully pointed out in your response- is something that will mean we don’t “do the 7 deadly sins”. If we look at that passage in John 4, we see the woman at the well have a life transforming encounter with Jesus and this encounter was relational, not religious or ritualistic.
Mark McIntyre says
August 11, 2013 at 10:17 PMThanks for the feedback. As timbothecat pointed out, I used the word worship as the response to what we really love. You are right that it is love of God that is the right response, which naturally leads to worship of God. The idea of worship I had in mind is not a ritualistic or legalistic following of rules and ceremony.
Jona Franklin says
August 13, 2013 at 12:37 AMI agree with the clarification about the love part…..and I haven’t yet been able to grow in my love for my savior,king and friend, without also growing in the depth of my praise,adoration and worship of Him.
Planting Potatoes says
August 11, 2013 at 9:30 AMI hadn’t seen it that way before, thanks for showing us this fresh way to look at!