Politics of the Seven Deadly Sins

The seven deadly sins are also known as Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins.  These are the sins that have been used to identify fallen humanity’s tendency to sin.

They are

1. Wrath

2. Greed

3. Sloth 

4. Pride

5. Lust

6. Envy 

7. Gluttony.  

While these specific sins destroy the life of grace and charity within a person they also lead to other more numerous sins.  Our Catholic brothers have a whole process for dealing with these sins. It’s interesting that the sins that the world seems to focus on are not on this list. The ones that seem ‘top of mind’ and inspire the most spirited debate are abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, homosexuality, and the like.  They are lightning rod items that carry high emotional content and separate one ‘camp’ from another. 

  

As I looked at these lists I thought about my time in the business world.  It is amazing how many of these sins were inherent in many of the activities of the business world. Whether it was the sales promotion that had a great vacation trip or some toy I couldn’t do without like a watch, computer or golf clubs.  In many of those meetings I was enticed to be like someone else who was writing more insurance than I was.  There was always the pride that came with beating everyone else in a contest and taking credit for how amazing I was.  There were the corporate ‘five course’ dinners with incredible food in massive quantities. That amount of food would have sufficed for 3-5 days if I would have eaten them at the levels I truly needed. There was one sin ‘sloth’ that I initially thought was not a problem for me.  When I looked up the definition it read ‘demoting God’s role in our lives and replacing Him enthusiastically with other things’. I was busted on that one as well.   The bottom line is that I am guilty on all counts in all the seven deadly sins.

      So this is another place where the tension of living in a broken and sinful world resides.  While I experience grace and mercy from God in the midst of my sin and brokenness it saddens me when I see the judgment, prejudice, and rage so prevalent around me.  Matthew 7:2-4 comes to mind when I think about judging others.  On what basis can I even do that, especially when I look at the Cardinal Sins?  If I am honest with myself I have to be harsher on my own activity than on those around me who are engaged in those ‘sins’ that have somehow been identified as worse than others.  I think the Bible’s standards for my behavior are much more of a challenge than the ones we focus on and the judgment potentially much more convicting.  God help me to repent from these seven deadly sins and all the others beyond.