Black and white or shades of Grey?

[OneMan]

I'm new here so forgive me if someone has asked this before. My question is this when it comes to the questions of sin is it Black and White with God or are there shades of grey? I welcome any and all answers. I will tell you now I know what I believe and will give my opinion after I get some input.

[Danieltwotwenty]

Well sin is anything that is in opposition to God, if God is like light then sin is the absence of light.
There might be shades of grey from the human perspective because we cannot see the big picture but God has complete knowledge so it would be black and white to him.

Great question by the way.

[1over137]

1 John 5:17 ESV
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

Maybe you view this as grey.

[jlay]

Apparently there are 50 shades of grey

[FlawedIntellect]

Apparently there are 50 shades of grey

Actually, according to this page, the human eye can distinguish between anywhere from 200 to 256 shades of grey. However, this page goes into a bit more detail on the matter.

(This thread has officially been derailed. My apologies.)

[OneMan]

No I believe that with God there are NO grey areas. You either sin or you don't and I'm sure we all know what the answer to that one is.

[melanie]

No I believe that with God there are NO grey areas. You either sin or you don't and I'm sure we all know what the answer to that one is.

I got a phone call from my sons school to say that he had been in a fight, they have zero tolerance to this behavior and he would be suspended. When he got home I immediately started getting upset at him, he tried to intervene and say but mum you don't understand but I just said there are no excuses and continued telling him how disappointed I was and that he was grounded ect. I was so shocked as this kind of behavior was so out of character. After I calmed down he came to me and asked to explain, my response was yes you better and it better be good. He went on to tell me that there was a kid at school that was going around bulling and intimidating the other boys, he was bigger and seems to have a chip on his shoulder. He had targeted one of his friends, this boy had told a teacher previously and had repeatededly asked to be left alone. My son was walking past when the bully was having a go at the boy, he just kept pleading for him to go away and leave him alone, Riley my son also tried to tell this boy to go away. The bully lunged at the boy to attack him, Riley stood between them and pushed the bully, then the bully took a swing at Riley and Riley dropped him. When I heard this my reaction changed, I was proud of him, I have always taught him to stand up for people, that it is even worse when good people do nothing. My next tackle would be explaining this to the school, but I didn't have to, the next day they rang to say that Riley's friend parents had called the school to explain and that they were very grateful for Riley's courage and that believed that he should have his suspension lifted, thank goodness the school agreed and dropped the suspension. I was left with the feeling that the bully had it coming to him for repeatedly harassing the other kids. I was discussing the matter a few days later with a parent from the school, he told me that he knew the bully's family, his mum and dad had just recently had a nasty separation and the dad was a brute who was aggressive towards his family. My feelings then changed towards the kid who was bully, poor child was lashing out from a really crap situation that was completely out of his hands. It brought home to me that there is so often never black or white but a whole lotta grey. Everyone was a victim of sorts in that situation.
Yes sin is sin and that is black and white, you don't sort of steal or kinda lie. But we all sin. We all fall short everyday. The Almighty judges us as individuals in individual circumstances. Honest men lie, sometimes good people do bad things, God does not sit the adulterer's in one group and the liars in another and judge accordingly. He looks at each of us individually, our intent, our heart, our circumstance, and uses his grace, wisdom, compassion, empathy and forgiveness.
Stealing is stealing but yet one man may steal for the rush, another for greed and another to feed his family, in this respect there is grey.
The old saying till you have walked a mile in someone's else's shoes, thank goodness Our Father knows all our old, worn out, grubby, muddy shoes.

[OneMan]

Again, this situation is "Black and White". I understand what you are saying, but no the are no shades of grey. God ultimately decides what are the consequences for our actions. However what is sin is clearly stated in the Bible, and if you sin which we all do, then you have sinned. To try to say I did it for the right reasons. Then you put yourself in the place of God. Deciding what is right and wrong.

Of course all of this is IMHO. I won't ever say I'm right and you're wrong because that is not my place. I leave that to God. What we have in our Hearts is what he sees.

[neo-x]

Murder is murder, even if its done with the right intent or end. Stealing is stealing whether you do it to feed your family or just out of greed. Motive does not change the nature of an act. Lie is a lie even if you tell it to the killer in your house to save your children.

The grey at best is upon God's behalf, where he chooses to pardon us on our sin. On the matter of sin itself, there is no grey.

[Silvertusk]

No I believe that with God there are NO grey areas. You either sin or you don't and I'm sure we all know what the answer to that one is.

I got a phone call from my sons school to say that he had been in a fight, they have zero tolerance to this behavior and he would be suspended. When he got home I immediately started getting upset at him, he tried to intervene and say but mum you don't understand but I just said there are no excuses and continued telling him how disappointed I was and that he was grounded ect. I was so shocked as this kind of behavior was so out of character. After I calmed down he came to me and asked to explain, my response was yes you better and it better be good. He went on to tell me that there was a kid at school that was going around bulling and intimidating the other boys, he was bigger and seems to have a chip on his shoulder. He had targeted one of his friends, this boy had told a teacher previously and had repeatededly asked to be left alone. My son was walking past when the bully was having a go at the boy, he just kept pleading for him to go away and leave him alone, Riley my son also tried to tell this boy to go away. The bully lunged at the boy to attack him, Riley stood between them and pushed the bully, then the bully took a swing at Riley and Riley dropped him. When I heard this my reaction changed, I was proud of him, I have always taught him to stand up for people, that it is even worse when good people do nothing. My next tackle would be explaining this to the school, but I didn't have to, the next day they rang to say that Riley's friend parents had called the school to explain and that they were very grateful for Riley's courage and that believed that he should have his suspension lifted, thank goodness the school agreed and dropped the suspension. I was left with the feeling that the bully had it coming to him for repeatedly harassing the other kids. I was discussing the matter a few days later with a parent from the school, he told me that he knew the bully's family, his mum and dad had just recently had a nasty separation and the dad was a brute who was aggressive towards his family. My feelings then changed towards the kid who was bully, poor child was lashing out from a really crap situation that was completely out of his hands. It brought home to me that there is so often never black or white but a whole lotta grey. Everyone was a victim of sorts in that situation.
Yes sin is sin and that is black and white, you don't sort of steal or kinda lie. But we all sin. We all fall short everyday. The Almighty judges us as individuals in individual circumstances. Honest men lie, sometimes good people do bad things, God does not sit the adulterer's in one group and the liars in another and judge accordingly. He looks at each of us individually, our intent, our heart, our circumstance, and uses his grace, wisdom, compassion, empathy and forgiveness.
Stealing is stealing but yet one man may steal for the rush, another for greed and another to feed his family, in this respect there is grey.
The old saying till you have walked a mile in someone's else's shoes, thank goodness Our Father knows all our old, worn out, grubby, muddy shoes.

Another awesome post Melanie - Thanks for sharing.

[Silvertusk]

Murder is murder, even if its done with the right intent or end. Stealing is stealing whether you do it to feed your family or just out of greed. Motive does not change the nature of an act. Lie is a lie even if you tell it to the killer in your house to save your children.

The grey at best is upon God's behalf, where he chooses to pardon us on our sin. On the matter of sin itself, there is no grey.

In every situation - thank God (Literally) for Jesus - and that we can all be forgiven.

[neo-x]

Amen brother. Amen.

[PaulSacramento]

Sin is not about black and white or gray.
It is about right an wrong.

[melanie]

Sin is not about black and white or gray.
It is about right an wrong.

True
And about being flawed and human, imperfect but striving for unattainable perfection and failing but knowing we are blessed and loved and forgiven regardless. Because it is our love and endless gratitude for the price Jesus paid for our sins that drives us to try and do better than yesterday, to learn, to yearn for more from ourselves, to grow, to question how we could do better and be better. We all screw up everyday but what sets some aside is when we lie our heads on our pillows we hold ourselves accountable, we regret, cry, feel shame, pray to be wiser and kinder the next time round. We know there is a better version of ourselves that we can aspire to because Our Father believes in us and when we fail we keep striving because He never gives up on us, even when we give up on ourselves.

[PaulSacramento]

All we can ever strive for is to try and do better.
Not because we have to, not because we want something out of it but because we love God so much that anything else is just, well, unacceptable.