Three Rs of sin - recognition, repetition, reputation

1. Recognition. If you have never realised that a certain thing is a sin then you are not likely to feel convicted.

If you don't know that it is a sin to worry or a sin not to keep the Lord's Day special then your conscience will not convict you. It is only when you see such things are sins that you are likely to come under conviction.

2. Repetition. Even when we know something is sinful, we may not feel convicted about it because we have done it so many times so much so that we are hardly aware we are doing it.

Think of a person who feels guilty about swearing or making rude jokes at first but gets so used to it that 

he does not notice it any more. The same with gossip, lying. and other sins.

3. Reputation. As for reputation, we are ashamed of some sins just because we know what others will think of us.

A person may be quite happy to steal or to do something spiteful or malicious to another or to cheat on his wife – as long as no-one else knows about it. The very fact that he may be found out often stops a person from committing a sin and when he does, the reaction of others to it can bring deep conviction.

Sin and Death

Have you ever played word association (what a friend of mine calls word association football)? You know eg Dog Cat, Cat Fur, Fur Coat, Coat Hat, Hat Head, Head Hair, Hare Rabbit, Rabbit Pie, Pi Maths, etc. It is used by psychiatrists to learn things about people but it can be fun too. Now what about the word sin? Do you associate the word death with it? You ought to – sin – death: the wages of sin is death. Sin leads to death. It is inevitably connected with decay and with death, with darkness and with hell. We need to connect not only the general idea of sin with death but individual sins too.

You know how children are not born with an innate sense of danger. They do not instinctively know that the road can be dangerous or that they can fall downstairs or that they can burn themselves on the oven – no, they have to be taught. They need to learn that stepping out into the road without looking is likely to lead to injury. Coming down the stairs backwards is a better way than forwards when they are little. They have to learn that hot ovens can burn. So we need to teach ourselves to connect sin with death. The wages of sin is death.

Sin and Death and Danger

If we know that there is the danger of death if you drink bleach or electrocute yourself or if you catch a certain disease, then you will do all you can to avoid it. It is the only sensible thing to do. Given that the Bible connects sin and death so closely, as it does in Romans 6:23, we must turn from it. Are you turning from sin? Are you making a daily conscious effort to turn from all known sin? That must be the way you live.

The Scottish Method

One of the things that all faithful preachers must speak about is sin. It must be done faithfully but carefully. In his 1969 work The Homiletical Innovations of Andrew W. Blackwood (Studies in Preaching; No. 3) the pastoral theologian Jay E. Adams says that the homiletician Blackwood (1882-1966) advocated the use of the Scottish method in this area. That is to say, you preach against your own sins with the hope that even where people are not tempted in the same way as you they see how they can make a similar application to themselves.

I have heard many preachers do this well. Clearly, if you are tempted to murder your kids or run off with the woman next door, best to confess that to the Lord and say no more about it. What you want is a sin or temptation that exposes our shallow and wicked nature but that is easily forgiven by most.

So for example, I heard an American preacher once describing how now that the children have grown up and left the nest he and his wife like from time to time to lay in bed watching TV or something of that sort. He will be sent downstairs for ice cream at some point further enhancing the evening's enjoyment. He then describes how, having filled two bowls he spend the time ascending the stairs carefully weighing up which might be the bigger of the two so he can give the other to his spouse. I think that is a neat way of exposing the greed that lurks in his own heart and in yours and mine too, no doubt.

Another time I heard a minister from the North of England describe how on a hospital visit, as he left the car park, he managed to bump another car. Quite candidly, he described how he seriously considered for some moments simply driving off and saying nothing. But how could he? And so he began to frame a note to put on the car he had hit. Again it is an identifiable way of exposing the selfishness and the lack of love that lurks in all our hearts. May be you would never dream of not owning up but no doubt there are other areas where you would be tempted not to do the right thing.

A third example would be an older Englishman who has ministered all his life in Scotland. I remember him describing how he has set there writing a letter to a grand child and in his head he has congratulated himself on how wonderful he is writing to the child such a wonderful spiritual letter. Again, it makes the speaker look a little silly and exposes his pride and self-regard - something we all share in common.

Each preacher has to think of his own example. The one that comes most forcefully to my mind in this area is the way on a Sunday we will be singing a hymn I have chosen and I will notice how well some of the words fit with what has been preached or is about to be preached, even though I did not choose the hymn for that reason. I imagine others in the congregation thinking "Oh, he's worked so hard on this and found such appropriate words." In truth, I doubt if anyone is thinking such a thing. It still exposes my pride and my willingness to take credit where no credit is due. It is a good example to take as it self-mocks and points to the foolishness and wickedness that lies in all our hearts.