It was a little white lie. It was just a pack of gum. I didn’t mean to hurt them. I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. But it’s not as bad as what she did! These are just a handful of the excuses we use to justify our actions. We try to minimize the hurt we inflict or the damage we do. We don’t think our words can hurt that badly. We love to make grade levels for the wrongs we do in life. But how right is that? We say it’s to be fair but how fair is the grading system of wrongs? 

Now to be clear, in case you didn’t know already, I am operating from a Christian worldview so my answers here at skewed in that direction. But think about it for a minute. The system of grading wrongs is fairly subjective isn’t it? I mean it’s a matter of one person’s opinion or observation. What if they didn’t see the whole situation? What if we missed an eye witness whose testimony could have changed the level of our wrong? And how do we know that the level of punishment really fits the crime?

As a parent this is a pretty big struggle. I tend to overreact when it comes to punishments. Often my punishment doesn’t exactly match the offense. But I know I’m not the only one. I mean why is the speeding fine what it is? Why is there a different penalty for stealing a pack of gum than for stealing a car? Why is killing someone worse than trying to and failing? Why is one wrong punished at a lesser rate than another?

The short answer is we like to self justify. We’ve talked about this already in this series on What We Believe. But the long and short of it is that if we compare ourselves against a broken standard or a sliding scale we we’re often viewed as less wrong. And who doesn’t want that!

But the bible teaches a different way to see things. The bible calls wrongs by a different name – sin. The essence of sin is that you’ve failed to do the good that you should do and, either accidentally or intentionally, end up doing the wrong you shouldn’t have done.

The bible teaches that all sins are the same. Well, not exactly the same but seen in the same light. The premise is imperfect is imperfect. It’s really that simple. If I know that perfection is the standard then I know the benchmark for which to strive. And similarly the punishment for all sins is the same. I don’t have to guess how bad my level of bad was!

You see at the heart of this matter is who is God. If we believe that God is holy and perfect and right and true, then we better grasp the idea that his demands are holy and perfect and right and true. We’ll better understand that a one-size-fits-all punishment isn’t really a bad thing. Additionally, if we know the punishment beforehand how can it be unfair? I mean the bible clearly says that the wages of sin is death. That means that every wrong, no matter how big or small in our eyes, is seen the same way and has the same punishment.

God is holy. We are not. He demands perfection. Imperfection leads to death. Jesus was perfect but died thus transferring his perfect to our imperfect account. So what’s not fair is that Jesus died the death we deserve and we get the life he deserves! In short, yes it was really that bad! It was bad enough for Jesus to die for it!

Strive for perfection always but when you miss the mark, rest in his forgiveness and grace.