I think about the sin in my own life and it's etiology almost always has its roots in a) something good or b) something small. When I think about how wayward theology is adopted, the same two dynamics are also often at play. Let's take the 'Prosperity Gospel' for example. You can find many origin stories for the Prosperity Gospel, but whether it started in the late-1800s, 1950s or the 1970s, the basic framework is the same - the story is that it started with healing and the idea that one could be divinely healed. In an of itself, there is nothing wrong with that, that is a very Biblical idea. Then others came along and built upon that the teachings of "ask and you shall receive" and "give and it will be given back to you" and slowly the focus became on the things of this life, rather than on the things of God. Where exactly things went off the rails can be debated, but the core of it is, people started putting far too much of their focus on the blessings of God, rather than on who God is and what the totality of Scripture says about how a disciple is to live. The subtlety is that while the blessings of God are good, no doubt about it, they are not everything.
How about small things? My dad had an object lesson for me one time (he says he doesn't remember this, btw). I had told a small lie and he had caught me in it. He took my arm and the eraser end of a No. 2 pencil, and he started oh-so-gently rubbing a spot on my forearm with it. At first, you could barely feel it - it certainly wasn't painful. After a few minutes of this however, it started to burn a little bit and turn red and if he would have kept it up, I'm sure that it would have turned into an open sore. This is exactly the idea that Satan uses in 'small things'. He whispers into your ear, "oh come on, it's not that bad, it's just a little _____, no one will know." Or, he will say, "come on, you deserve this, you had a really hard week and you need to take care of yourself." Or, he will say, "you had a good reason for doing it, so-and-so has been so annoying lately and I needed someone to talk about it with - they'll never find out I was talking about them behind their back". For me, he will say something like, "you are sooo tired, you should just stay in bed this morning, get an extra hour of sleep - you can read your Bible and pray later today when you get a break." Folks, I've struggled with smoking for over 10 years - I didn't start out with any addiction to it - it started out as something I did here and there, socially. I've actually quit two different times for over a year. I'm not here to say that I think smoking in sinful (though there may be a case to be made there). My point is, what is at best a very bad habit started out small. Same with pornography. We are lulled to sleep by the things of this world. Pretty soon, we start to justify our actions and behaviors and in those justifications, are the very lies of Satan himself. Here's a quote from the "Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis that speaks to this:
[one demon teaching another demon on how to be effective]
"You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out in the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
Identifying and rooting out lies, sin and deception in our lives takes a lot of introspection and self-examination (and most likely other people to help us along the way). We have to be willing to look deeply into the motivations behind the things we are doing and into what we believe. Before the last year of theology I studied, I had no idea I was a Supersessionist (someone who believes God has transferred the promises made to Israel, to the Church). Furthermore, I had no idea what the implications of that were in the way I was reading the Bible, in my concept of who God is...none of that, I had no clue. It wasn't until I was willing to deconstruct what I had learned that the Truth became evident to me. Was it sinful to believe what I had believed before? No, I don't think so - but the subtlety was that Supersessionism was affecting how I viewed God and how real and grounded my faith was.
As one example, I was prone to presuming upon Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. I had no idea how seriously God takes sin. I had been fed a steady diet of 'grace' without hearing enough about His 'wrath'. I thought to myself, "eh, God loves me, He will cover my sin, he knows I'm only human." Friends, make no mistake, God is indeed gracious but that type of thinking is a complete lie. In Hebrews 10:26-27, we read that there is no covering for intentional sin. That is to say, there can be no forgiveness for sin that isn't repented of. How can I repent properly if my attitude is flippant towards Jesus' death for my sin? We know that Grace itself wasn't cheap - that it cost Jesus, the Son of the Living God, his very life. Satan has been telling us a lie - getting us to overemphasize God's grace while simultaneously down-playing God's wrath and coming judgement. We should be holding both in the same hand - God is both loving AND just. He is the very embodiment of righteousness and because of that fact, he cannot call something that is evil good. And yet, because of his mercy and goodness, he gives us every moment up until our death or His return to turn, to repent and believe. After that point, however, there are no more chances. The period of amnesty is up and if we did not bend the knee, then we are an enemy of God - you stand accused like everyone else, but with no sacrifice to pay the penalty for your sin. It's either Jesus life, or your life - a price must be paid in order for justice to be served.
As a final example of subtlety - I was considering the question, "how could a good God send people to Hell" and it occurred to me, that it's the wrong question! "Goodness" is a relative term - the question we should be asking is "how can a righteous God allow unrighteousness into his Heavenly Kingdom?" God is good precisely BECAUSE he is righteous. He has been telling us since the beginning of human history that we are neither good nor righteous, and that nothing we can do will make us righteous in His eyes. The only hope we have for righteousness is to put our faith and hope in the one thing that can cover us and make us righteous in God's sight - the blood of His son Jesus. The Good News is that there is a way to be saved! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life - no one comes to the father except through me." (John 14:6) Jesus is the way - but that also necessarily means that all other paths lead to death.
"The Messiah, you see, while we were still helpless, at the appointed time died for the sake of the ungodly. It is hard enough to imagine someone dying for an upright person; for a good person, maybe, someone might just stir up enough courage to die. God, however, shows the depth of his love for us in the fact that the Messiah himself died for us when? While we were still sinners!" (Romans 5:6-8 BHT)
Another thing that occurred to me was that whether a person lived in 1200BC or 2020AD, we are all fundamentally putting our hope and trust in the same thing. Hear me out - that person who lived in 1200BC was putting their hope in something not seen, but ultimately in God. What is said of Abraham in Genesis 15? "Abraham believed the Lord, and God credited it to him as righteousness." What did he believe God about? That God was going to do for Abraham what He had promised. Abraham put his trust in God, but the key part is that it was God who credited it - it was God who deemed that trust/faith to be righteous. We know a little more history here in 2020AD, but fundamentally, we are in the same boat as Abraham. John 3:16 - a verse memorized by millions reads, "for God so loved the World that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life." We are trusting God that our trust in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross will ultimately be credited to us as righteousness. We are counting on Him to follow through on his promise in that regard, even though we didn't see any of this play out with our own eyes (just as Abraham did not ultimately see the fulfillment of God's promises to him).
I got off the rails a little there - my main point is just a reminder, to both myself and anyone who reads this, that Satan is not new to this game. In fact, he's one of the oldest players in the game and he has mastered the art of subtlety...using things that aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, and slowly turning them on us in ways that lead to sin.
