When I was in Catechism class in middle school I was taught that there are two types of sin: the sin of commission, and the sin of omission. The sin of commission is when you do something that is wrong whereas the sin of omission is failing to do something that you should have done. Until more recently in my life, I didn’t really put much thought into the sin of omission, but today I’m going to try to give it the attention it deserves.
For the most part, people like to judge themselves by the ten commandments, and honestly that’s not a bad place to start, but there are issues there. The ten commandments are primarily a list of “do not”s… or rather “you shall not”s, with the exception of remembering the sabbath day and honoring your parents. I find it interesting that those are 2 of the least emphasized commandments (in my mind) as well…
Anyway, many of us will see an adulterer, thief, or murderer as a much worse person than most of us. And then we look at ourselves, see that we haven’t cheated on our wives, stolen anything (at least not since we were very young), and we certainly haven’t killed anyone. We’re generally “nice”, we show up at church on Sunday more often than not, etc.
Does that make us good? What does Jesus say?
The Sin of Omission
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12: 28-31 ESV
Our 2 primary commands are to love God and love others. Since we lack a true understanding of love, we generally glance right over this and move on because, as I said earlier, we go to church and we’re generally nice to people. This is not love. Love is caring about something and nurturing it and providing for its needs. Do you really love God?
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon,son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him,“Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
John 21:15-17 ESV
To love God is to love those whom He loves. Loving God involves having a heart for the things that God desires. Specifically: feed and tend His sheep. They are everywhere, often wandering around without Him, and we just let them wander away instead of showing them the way back to safety with the gospel. Some of His sheep can’t find green pastures or water, and instead of helping them out and feeding them, we walk right past them. Maybe we’ll drop a few bucks for them, but we don’t care for them.
Don’t Omit Love
If you truly want to be known as a good person, follow Jesus’ example. Everywhere He went, He proclaimed the good news and helped people in need. Are Jesus’ standards a little too high for mere mortals to meet? Alright, then look to someone like Mother Teresa as an example of what a mere mortal can achieve with God by their side.
Playing video games, sitting in front of the TV, constantly refreshing Facebook… none of these things are sins in and of themselves, but they draw us away from the great things God has planned for us to do. This is the sin of omission. It’s not a sin to rest when you need it, hence the Sabbath day, so don’t misunderstand me there. If you need to rest and watch some TV, I’m not going to stop you, but if there is anything in your life that takes up so much of your time that you’re completely unable to give any heed to the great commission, then you are not a good person. In fact, you are damning everyone around you to hell because you were busy.
Before I let you go, I need to say that I bring these points up primarily because they are plaguing my own life. I don’t mean to judge you, but rather convict and admonish you the same way God has been convicting and admonishing me, so that we can all realize our sin, repent of them, and live holier lives. Let’s all come together and make a real impact on this world through the love of Christ!
