Relative Sin

As I'm getting to know Jesus more, I'm trying this thing out where I question all of my motives and thoughts about who He is and make sure they're not being born of tradition or common thought, but of my own biblical and Spirit-led search and revelation. It's a good thing because it opens up doors to very beautiful parts of God, but it's also scary because it's shaking up the things I think I know about God and introducing things that can be somewhat uncomfortable and hard to swallow. I'm discovering that God is nothing like we think he is. But that is another topic for a different day. What I really want to talk about now is sin, and how it relates to what I just mentioned. And how steering away from tradition is bringing up the term "relativism" in my pursuit of Christ. I understand that most Christians see relativism as very dangerous and misaligned with the character of God because it suggests vague guidelines vs. foundational truth.But I also understand that God relates to individuals in very different ways. And if sin is something that separates us from God, isn't it possible for some of that sin to be relative? Because different people relate to God in different ways. Example: I have issues with food and if I allow myself to binge on sweets, it dulls my senses, it's escapism, it's an unhealthy way to deal with deeper crap going on: it separates me from God. But for someone else, binging wouldn't necessarily separate them from God, it would just make them feel sick. So binging is sinful for me. But for someone else, it's just a lighthearted unhealthy choice. I get that there are obvious sins that separate everyone from God, no matter how the individual relates to him. But I know there are others that are different.

Thoughts?

The reason I posted this in the first place is because I'm noticing that it's getting harder and harder for me to define what sin is in my life. I'm also noticing that the topic of sin is becoming less and less discussed because it ignites a sense of legalism and no Christian hipster wants to be seen as a Bible thumper, so I'm seeing a degeneration of morale among Christians my age. Because we serve a "forgiving" God. We  misinterpret his forgiveness and use it as a loophole for sin. This is nothing new, Paul talked about it in Romans 5&6. But "love" and "forgiveness" are not excuses to compromise truth or morals. So, to tie this in, what are those truths and morals, and can they be relative? and, to relate to degenerating morale, just how angry does God get when we know what we're doing is wrong, yet we keep on doing it to convey a liberal Christianity? And how much room does he give us before he holds us responsible and begins punishing us for that behavior, calling it repetitive and conscious sin?

Redefining Sin

I'm living in sin.

but it's different than I thought it was.

Here's my thought process that lead me to my conclusion--

If we're Christians, then we believe in grace. Grace is the opposite of shame (one of the opposites). If we live in grace, we carry no shame because of who Christ is.

So, we never need to feel any form of guilt or shame about anything. Ever. Because that's not a part of who Christ is. Even in sin, in any thought or action, we need not carry shame. Because here's the thing-- shame and guilt produce no lasting change. No one changes after feeling bad about something. Usually the only thing that comes from feeling bad...is feeling bad. But, someone WILL change when they know they're trusted enough to invoke inner change in themselves by being able to differentiate between something life giving and something that numbs, destroys, or is not beneficial.

So, "sin" is not something we should view with a shameful connotation. Sin is anything that numbs, deadens or distracts us from the abundant life (here on earth) that Christ has promised us. This is what I think Christ is referring to when he speaks of the "wide path that many take" and the "narrow path" that few find. The wide road is easy and numb (sinful, because it separates us from the abundant life of Christ). The narrow road is the one you must seek out, climb over, trudge through. One that's alive, awake, living, breathing and in tune with Christ in the here and now. The wide path is sinful. Not shameful, or even necessarily guilt ridden. Just without Christ. And the narrow path is the abundant life, without sin, with Christ. And that abundant life frees us from shame and gives us a permanent dwelling position (here on Earth) in a place of grace. Grace, in this case, means forgiveness from Christ and the guarantee that one way or another, the Spirit will show us that if we are taking the wide path, why what we're doing is not life giving and how we can begin to cease, begin to see and being to live.

I know it's well known that all sin is not necessarily considered "bad". But lately I've found myself thinking I'm not in sin simply because I'm staying away from shameful acts. But I am sinning. I'm sinning when I spend all day on facebook, spacing out the world around me and not tuning into the gifts God has given me in the present. And I don't have to feel shameful about that. I'm not bad for that. I'm thankful Christ can show me and gently touch my face, turn my head, and open my eyes to the abundant life he has for me now. Not later. Now.