“Sin is a demon...

... lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his maser.”-Gen. 4:7 New American Bible

³¹ The second command is this: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself. There are no commands more important than these." Mark 12:31 New Century Version

Some churches must be populated with godly people because they never preach about sin. Some churches want to save everybody because they preach about sin incessantly.

But, just exactly, what is sin?

Some denominations believe sin is violating the Ten Commandments. Now, that’s a good start. Other denominations believe drinking and dancing are a sin. They don’t believe anyone should have any fun.

The deacon got my attention a few Sundays ago. I normally couldn’t tell you what the sermon was about but this sermon was so compelling. He left such an impression on me that here I am weeks later writing about it.

Basically Hollywood has so trivialized demonic possession such that no one believes in a person being possessed. He talked basically about addiction and how no one sets out to be an addict. A person will begin with recreational drugs or a drink to unwind from work, and then become a casual user and finally winds up being a full blown addict or alcoholic.

Which gets me back to Genesis, “Sin is a demon lurching at the door”? America does not like to accuse anyone with bad behavior. Instead we like to say a person has bad habits. The two biggest bad habits (sins) in America are over eating and out of control drinking. No one is an alcoholic instead we say “He’s happy go lucky” or “Has a drinking problem.”

I’ve known people with a “drinking problem.” Believe me it was no joke. They lost their business or job or freedom. Some lose their families.

I like beer; a lot. But I love my daughters and grand children more. So, I have taken the cardiologist’s advice and basically quit drinking. I’ll have a beer or two once or twice a year. And then I don’t think about it again.

And for fat people, we like to make all kinds of excuses.

Let’s heed Jesus’ admonishment, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”. I firmly believe that it all starts with self love; not narcissism but a genuine belief that you are special and must do everything within your power to preserve your selfhood. If a person loved his neighbor as he loved himself, there would be no need for the Ten Commandments. I believe the Serenity Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi should be part of every person’s daily ritual.

Whatever it takes. A person should seek whatever help they may need whether spiritual or otherwise

My Spanish teacher in college once commented, “Everything good in life is either a sin or fattening”. Many things in life can possess us: booze, lusting for things we cannot afford, food, pornography. Anything that can harm us or another human being is a sin. OK, maybe a short coming. But let’s remember the admonition, “His urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

So, what demons do you struggle with? Are you master or slave?

MADD MEXX