The Closet Professor

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

—James 1:14-15

I’m going to be honest, I have had some “sinful thoughts” over the past week, especially after an assassination attempt on the former president and the Republican National Convention being held. I admit, I often have unkind thoughts when I think of Republicans. I think we are on the precipice of either retaining democracy or slipping into fascism. It is happening around the world, and so far, countries have chosen democracy. I think you can imagine the kinds of thoughts I had after the events of the last week or so, and I’m talking more than just yelling “Lying son of a bitch” at the TV when a Republican is spouting either insincere compassion or outright lies.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter was running for president, He shocked voters when he admitted during a Playboy magazine interview that he had “looked on a lot of women with lust” and “committed adultery in my heart many times.” Carter narrowly won his White House bid, but he would later say that public outrage over his confession “nearly cost me the election.” Carter probably had in mind Matthew 5:27-28 in which Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” I think all of us can probably say that every time we look at someone with lust or have unkind thoughts about someone, then we are all in a handbasket on our way to hell. I have never believed that just thinking of committing a sin was an actual sin. I think we know enough about psychology to know that we cannot always control our thoughts.

So, when is it considered a sin if we only think about committing a sin but do not commit the actual sin? Sins can indeed be committed both in our minds and by our actions. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’[Empty head] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” We can sin in our minds: for example by being angry with someone, but the simple thoughts are not enough to be a sin. I believe that the anger Jesus spoke of is the anger that causes us to treat someone unfairly and to show them our anger, not just having angry thoughts about them. Over the weekend, I certainly had some angry thoughts when I kept getting emails from work demanding that I answer them ASAP, especially when I did not consider the matter something that could not wait until Monday, but I never responded in an email what I was actually thinking because it would have been hurtful to a person that I know is under a great deal of stress. Still, I am not going to work on a weekend if I am not getting paid to do so. In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus said a person can commit the sin of murder both by action and by becoming angry. For the anger motivates the action. 

God restates this principle in a different way in Matthew 5:27-28 quoted above that Carter used as his reasoning for committing adultery in his heart. It is an illustration most people understand. We see someone and start thinking about that person because we are sexually attracted to them. The Greek word for “looks” in verse 28 is a present participle in the Greek language. That means the person continues thinking sexually or lusting about the person. The message of Jesus is that sin does not occur if we look, are sexually attracted, and continue thinking about the person. That is not a sin. But if we look and obsessively think lustful thoughts about the person to the point of neglecting other things, then we sin in our minds or hearts. That is, a thought or an emotion occurs and if we do not control our thoughts, it results in adultery. That is the message of Jesus. Both passages from Matthew are great illustrations of how sin occurs.

It is not a sin to be quickly angry. It is not a sin to be sexually attracted to someone. It is not a sin to think that a man is handsome or has great character and that he might be a very romantic husband. It is not a sin to be physically attracted to a woman. But if a married man or woman goes further and starts dreaming about having sex, being kissed, or having sex with someone other than his or her spouse to the point when they neglect their spouse, then he or she has sinned. James reveals that sin does not occur when the emotion, thought, or passion first comes. But if those thoughts lead to passive or active responses, then sin occurs when we give in to the emotion, thought, or passion by dwelling on it and allowing it to affect how we handle things in life outside of our thoughts. That is Jesus’ message in Matthew 15:18-19 when He says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

So, how should we respond to temptations to sin? God gave Cain the answer in Genesis 4:7. He said, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” That is, sin wants to force us to do what it wants. Sin is a desire that wants us to yield to it. So, what will you do? A person sins by dwelling on something to the point of leading to some action on the thoughts that God has told us to avoid. When we sin on the outside or outwardly, we demonstrate to God, to others, and to ourselves that we have already sinned on the inside. God has asked us to resist the temptation to sin by fleeing from it. We are not supposed to see how close we can come without sinning. Fleeing starts with avoiding thoughts about sin. Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

So, while I may have thought about a certain bullet being two inches to the right, I would never actually do anything to encourage someone else or do anything myself to make that happen. That is the difference between thinking a sin and committing a sin. It is the action we take. The only actions I will take are to speak out against the fascist rhetoric in politics, point out the hypocrisy when someone insincerely calls for unity and peace while in the next breath spewing hateful speech, and vote against those people on election day. These are the actions that are just. These are the actions that Jesus calls on us to take. We are to do lawful things and in line with His teachings, no matter what our brains cause us to think. When sinful thoughts reflect back on us because of the way we act, then we have committed that sin, but if we take action to not fall prey to the temptation of our thoughts, then we are not sinning in the eyes of God.