Chapter 3: Why is Sin "Fun"?
Have you ever known a really good liar? The kind of guy who could con almost anyone into giving him money?
Though this is a true story related by a former inmate, Cliff is a fictitious name.
Cliff was a con man working inside a low-security prison. He was using women as a source of money for his personal spending account.
Cliff had "scored" five women. (Scored is prison slang.) Each week, the prison scheduled five visiting times for inmates: one on Friday night, two on Saturday, and two on Sunday. The two visits on Saturday and Sunday were separated by the evening meal. Visitors from those two sessions would never see each other. Cliff arranged a specific visiting time each week with five different women. As long as they kept to their scheduled visiting times, each woman would never know that the other women existed. Cliff ended his visits with each of these five women with the caresses and kisses permitted between an inmate and his loved ones in this low-security prison. Cliff bragged of his exploits to his fellow inmates.
So how did Cliff connect with five different women? The rest of the story is speculation, but it would have been simple. He might have already known one or more of these women, but it would have been safer for him to make new contacts with women who did not know him before he was incarcerated since they would not be able to find him after his release. He might have used an inmate pen pal website to advertise:
"I'm a serious, clean-cut guy who wants to start a new life. I'm 34 years old. I made one mistake and never want to repeat after I get out. I'm looking for a serious companion. There may be a future together for us."
Then Cliff could pass himself off as having been a successful man working in the trades who made one mistake that put him in prison. He could then correspond with five interested women who lived close enough to the prison to visit him, making the rest of his scheme work. (Of course, they would need to be women who didn't ask many questions.)
We can't relate the women's side of this story but we can assume that each of them thought they had found a man they could love, and were committed enough to regularly visit and send him money. Can you image a Hollywood drama showing these five women learning of each other for the first time while waiting at the gate on the day of his release? Each would have undoubtedly had the same expectation of building a romantic new life with Cliff as he transitioned back into society.
Since the end of this story is pure speculation, let's suggest how this con man might have avoided this conflict. On the day of his release, he might have arranged to meet the one woman who had agreed to let him move in with her. This would give him his "housing address" which would satisfy his parole officer. He could have easily dumped the other four by giving each of them a false release date two or three months later than his scheduled release. At some time, each of the other four women would come for a visit only to find that Cliff had already been released. He could hope that they would be too humiliated to cause trouble as he disappeared from their lives. (He would be protected because a parole office cannot give out the address of a released inmate other than that of a sex offender.)
The Father of Lies
Cliff was a good liar, but nothing as compared with the Devil.
So why do so many people think that holiness is undesirable? If God is absolutely powerful and loving, as the Bible tells us that he is, why doesn't it make sense for people to at least consider the benefits of God's holiness?
It is because the Devil wants all of us to believe that holiness is boring.
Sure, that which is contrary to holiness can bring moments of pleasure. The early highs from drugs and alcohol are exciting. But in the long run, the addiction which so frequently follows, the potential crime and resulting prison time, the broken lives, and the crushed hopes don't truly satisfy. Could anyone trapped in this kind of life honestly say that it is preferable to a life reflecting God's holiness when God's provision for that life would have resulted in a person reaching their full potential as a human being?
But drugs and alcohol are far from the only traps which encourage unholy living. One may get rich by taking advantage of others, or get physical pleasure by cheating on their spouse, or gain a public following by abusing power. No one would deny that wealth, controlling others with sexual exploits, or taking advantage of others' trust can be exciting. Yet, are any of these things better than the holiness God offers to those who follow him? In truth, most — though not all — of those who claim that a life of sin is preferable to holiness have never experienced holiness so as to make a comparison. (Sin is the Bible's name for anything that is not holy.) They have simply accepted the lie that a holy life would not be enjoyable.
Where did they get that idea? This is what Jesus said:
[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father (John 8:44).
The reason that we have all been attracted to sin rather than holiness is that the Father of Lies, the Devil himself, has convinced us that sin is preferable to God's offer of holiness.
The Devil, who is also known as Satan, is also described as "the god of this world" or "the evil one":
Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them (2 Corinthians 4:4). When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19). Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles [evil tricks] of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). [The Lord's servant] may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him (2 Timothy 2:26).
There is, however, another lie that Satan often uses. If he cannot convince a prospective victim that God's holiness is not enjoyable, then he will create a counterfeit religious experience which will have many rules that must be kept. But he doesn't do this only to "pagans" living in a jungle. He also deludes people in the same kind of churches where one would also expect to find holiness. Satan may convince some church members that holiness is attained through Christian rituals, or certain kinds of behavior, or vows to a religious life rather than by knowing God and obediently following that which God knows will be the most satisfying for them.
Nor is God's holiness found in just one of the three branches of Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox) while Satan's lies are being taught in the other two. In many cases, some people in all of these groups will be living holy lives while others in the same churches will be following Satan's lies and zealously trying to earn God's approval through their own self-righteousness. (We are not saying, however, that every one of the hundreds of denominations or church groups teach truth. Some do not accurately teach what the Bible says, and others do not even use the Bible. One group has even translated a new version of the Bible incorrectly in order to give it the appearance of teaching their own doctrine. Another group has added the writings of a latter day prophet as being more important than the Bible itself.)
But Jesus came to earth as a man. He finished his work of teaching when he was about 33 years old. He then allowed himself to be executed by the Romans — and three days later he came back to life. He did all of this in order to give us hope. In Chapter 6, we will find out how we can personally have this hope. For now, however, carefully read what one of Jesus' followers wrote in the Bible:
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. 3:10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10).
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