Our Fashionable Sin

I put on an old pair of jeans and was informed that they are fashionable. I've never been in style before, so I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that. Moreover, my daughter will happily adopt them if I'll part with them. Apparently "distressed dad chic" is a thing. I might let her wear them just to see how she plans to keep them up.

Fashions in dress come and go and sometimes come back. Bell bottoms made a brief return, and somehow mullets came back in style. Fashions in sin do the same. Every generation is prone to some sins more than others, and they usually don't even notice.

Too often a sin can be so much part of the air we breath we can't even see it. How many otherwise godly people, how many brilliant theologians accepted slavery or carried their generation's racism thoughtlessly? We may find our generation terribly concerned about some sin or virtue, but that can be a distraction from our real affliction.

CS Lewis mentioned this in The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape tells his protégé, "We direct the fashionable outcry of each generation against those vices of which it is least in danger and fix its approval on the virtue nearest to that vice which we are trying to make endemic."

What sins are our generation blind to? The first that springs to mind: Everyone is so angry. And it's toxic, mentally and spiritually. Jesus had harsh things to say about anger:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matt 5:21-22)

How does this fit into Screwtape's plot? We think we love the truth and hate evil, which is certainly a Christian virtue. But we believe that whatever we prefer is the truth and anyone who disagrees is evil. We do not see those who disagree with us as mistaken, misguided, or even stupid. We see them as wicked. Both sides of the partisan divide do this, in and outside the church.

"But what they believe really is evil!"

Let's say that's true. What does Jesus say about people who really are evil?

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt 5:43-48)

We should stand up for what we believe in. We should try to convince those who disagree they are in error. We cannot hate them or suggest they are "not real Christians" because they have different politics. This generation may behave that way, but Jesus' people are supposed to be better. Let's hold ourselves to his standard.


Image via Unsplash