By Kely Braswell (Dangerous Breeze)
You Say: Sin is fun!
God Says: Sin's pleasures are fleeting but its sorrow is lasting.
Oh, please, excuse me while I go spit up in my mouth!
Here’s the deal. Some things are just stupid beyond imagining.
Like these statements:
“I’m going to go dip myself in butter and lie in a horse trough of snapping turtles.”
“Listen, y’all, I’ve got a GREAT idea… I’m going to strap myself to the face of a large silverback gorilla in the Congo.”
“Wait! I’ve got it! Let’s all stick a nine foot length of barbed wire up our left nostril, pull it out our right one, and hang ourselves from a rafter. That sounds like fun!”
NO. No one has ever said any of those things.
Why?
Because they are stupid.
In fact, they’re more than stupid; they’re redneck stoopid.
Let the words of Jesus speak a little truth into our day, and then let us all go peacefully about our lives, knowing that in His heart is, for us, a deep desire for fun. True fun. Lasting fun.
Here’s what He says. Hear the contrast.
“The thief (that’s the one that says “sin is fun”) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
Hear that? The author of sin, the father of lies, he only wants three things for you, and he loves for you to think that sin has some other golden effect than those three things. But it doesn’t.
He wants to steal from you.
He wants to kill you.
He wants to destroy you.
And he never, EVER, wants to let up. He never has an inkling of a smidgen of a moment when he says, “Wow, Bob’s had a really bad day. I think I’ll let up on him just for a little bit and give him a break.”
Nope. Never compassion.
Steal. Kill. Destroy.
Sin is fun, huh?
Now, how ‘bout Jesus side of things?
“I come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.”
Which sounds better? To be stolen from? Killed? Destroyed?
Or to have abundant life?
Just as satan (I don’t even wanna give him the dignity of capitalizing his name, the conniving sniveler) never, ever lets up in his desire to steal, kill, and destroy…
Jesus never, ever – not for one little nano-second of YOUR EXISTENCE – Never! – has He ever desired for you anything other than abundant life.
Excuse me. Does this whole discussion of sin being fun fall into the category of a “no-brainer?”
Don’t be redneck stoopid. Please.
Parting thought, and it’s a big, encouraging thought!…
“In Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
(The Bible, John 10:10 and Psalm 16:11)
(As a long-time redneck, I can say “redneck stoopid” without being bigoted in any way. I ain’t bein’ bigoted because I am one.)
Kely is the senior pastor of Antioch Community Church in Knoxville, TN. He has a B.S. in Secondary Education, and he’s a lawyer on top of that (go figure that combination!). He has also been an overseas church planter off and on for the last 20 years. Kely is a husband and father to six, and enjoys running, reading and writing. You can find more of his writing over at his blog: Dangerous Breeze.