It is sin.

You were waiting for that, weren’t you? You were wondering where I was going to go, how I was going to spin what Jesus says. You read my post yesterday about Jesus and divorce. You were wondering how you were going to classify me, whether I was going to measure up or measure down or be typical of ___ or ___ or ___.

I mean, you were going to be open -minded about me, thinking the best of my intentions, waiting for the other shoe to drop. You were guessing that I might be ___ or maybe ___ or perhaps even ___. Mostly because I am always so ___.

But you also knew, deep in your heart, that whatever I said in this post was going to color your thinking of me.

You know how I know?

Because I was thinking the same thing. I wondered exactly where I going to go in this post. I wondered who I would hurt, who I would alienate, who I would invite criticism from.

Why should that matter? After all, sin is sin, right?

Indeed it is. And the sin of feeling vindicated and the sin of divorce and the sin of lust and the sin of adultery and the sin of arrogance and the sin of gossip and the sin of envy and the sin of self-righteousness and the sin of self-satisfaction are all sin. All of them.

In that list, of course, only two are socially unacceptable in the conservative branches of the church. And a couple of others are socially unacceptable in less conservative branches of the church. And a couple others are socially unacceptable in the culture at large.

And all of them invite the compassion and forgiveness and invitation to relationship and healing that Jesus offers.

“I can forgive it,” Jesus says.