Respectable Sins

  Last Sunday I spoke at Lifegate Church in SE Portland for the Sunday morning service. We talked about the "Respectable Sins" that we tolerate both inside and outside the church. It was amazing to see the way that the Sermon on the Mount came alive as we read Matt. 7: 1-6.
           ¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. As we went through this passage, we learned that our Bibles are supposed to be used in such a way that we see how much we desperately need God. Once we see that, then, and only then are we able to help our brothers and sisters. DON"T believe in these RESPECTABLE SINS that we pass throughout the church today.