Celebrating Sin?

We live in a world that celebrates sin. Do we join in the celebration, or do we sigh and cry because of sin and strive to root it out of our lives?

Most people probably don’t often think of sighing and crying as a mark of God’s people. Yet God says that He sets apart those “who sigh and cry over all the abominations” being done around them (Ezekiel 9:4).

That attitude instantly sets these people apart, because many people today have an attitude of tolerance or disregard for the sins in society around them. But there are those who go behind tolerance and actually celebrate sin in its many forms!

Society flaunts its sin, but that is not what true Christians are to do. God has called His people to be separate from the world and its wicked ways (John 17:14-16). We are not to celebrate our sins, but to be serious about overcoming them (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Society of sin

To some, sin may not seem to be that serious. The reality is that sin is not just serious, it’s deadly. Sin is a force that is capable of destroying all mankind (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

Society, sadly, has fallen wholeheartedly for the deceitfulness and “passing pleasures” of sin (Hebrews 3:13; 11:25). Not only is society full of sin, but people desire sin (Proverbs 21:10)! Whereas a true, repentant Christian will desire to stay away from sin and zealously avoid it (2 Corinthians 7:11), many in the world are the exact opposite and run to sin with open arms (Proverbs 6:18).

The selling of sin

A key player in this celebration of sin is Satan the devil. He is the one who has deceived the entire world (Revelation 12:9). Satan delights in selling sin to mankind. He was the one who sold Eve on the idea of eating the forbidden fruit. The book of Job reveals that Satan continues to work secretly behind the scenes.

Satan has a power that we cannot imagine or rival. Satan also has “ministers” who help to spread his way of life and thinking to the entire world (2 Corinthians 11:15). These individuals may not consciously be working for the devil, but that doesn’t remove the possibility that they can be his unwitting accomplices without knowing it.

In The Marketing of Evil, author David Kupelian reveals how the media—the institutions that help determine how we think and view the world—has sold our society on sin.

The sin being sold

One of the largest areas where sin is sold and celebrated is sex. God intended sex to be a wonderful intimacy between a husband and wife. Society has corrupted that gift into a mass media phenomenon that can be seen, displayed and hinted at everywhere one goes.

The most obvious of these corruptions is pornography, but it is not limited to that. We see this fascination with sexual immorality everywhere in our culture—from television to society’s expectations. Far from fleeing sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18), the world has immersed itself in it.

Society also celebrates violence, hate and death. Not only is the world embroiled in war, it is fascinated with violence and killing. Video games such as Halo or Call of Duty promise to make players more engaged in the violence of animated conflicts—the same techniques that the military uses to train soldiers.

To conquer, not celebrate

Instead of celebrating sin, God has called His people to conquer it! He supplies us with the armor of God (Ephesians 6) so that we can defeat sin and withstand Satan’s attacks. God has given us His solemn promise that He will never leave us or forsake us in this battle to conquer the sin that tries to ensnare us (Hebrews 12:1; 13:5).

We have to stand strong and resist society’s relentless pull to sin. With God’s help, this difficult job can be accomplished!

To learn more about the proper mentality toward resisting sin, read “Overcoming: Changing Magnetic Polarity.”