Silently Affecting Others – Pt. 2

If you didn’t read Tuesday’s post, you can read it here. It was the first part of what we’ll read today. We continue with Gary Thomas’ thoughts from his trip to Japan, where he focuses on how our sin affects others.

“I often hear Christians take a very self-absorbed view of sin; Because their forgiveness is assured in the finished work of Jesus Christ, they apply a faulty logic: I’m going to be forgiven, so what does it really matter? They never realize how their sin affects others and how it produces a more evil world.

It is selfish to use God’s grace as a reason to not grow in godliness. I can’t think of a single sin that doesn’t have severe repercussions for others. I cannot steal without denying someone something that belongs to them; I cannot abuse alcohol or substances without endangering someone by my intoxication; I cannot lust without dehumanizing someone; I cannot display arrogance without belittling or dominating someone. To say, “Oh, but God forgives me, so what does it really matter?” is to completely discount everyone but myself.

Back in Singapore, now walking toward the famous Mer Lion, it dawned on me how our “private” battles have a very public effect. What we cultivate in secret shapes the world we live in. Our unseen battles eventually create the culture we are now a part of.

In the last 72 hours, what kind of world have you left behind? Have you sought to be appreciated, or have you focused on appreciating others? Have you resented others’ successes, or have you encouraged people to step out? Have you used people — for private fantasies, for amassing power at work, for increasing your popularity — or have you served them? What kind of world are you creating? We all have a choice: We can bless this world with splashes of God’s glory, or we can spray it with showers of sin. What will we choose today?”