You may be looking at sin. It depends on how you look at sin. It looks differently to different people. You might be tempted to answer the question in the title with a “what”. Sam Bankman-Fried, once known as a cryptocurrency whiz kid, was found guilty on Thursday for his role in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The 31-year-old former billionaire could go to prison for the rest of his life. What was his crime? He took money—albeit a new form of digital money—that was not his, and used it like it was. In a word or two or three— he lied, cheated, and stole to the tune of ten billion dollars.
But according to David, sin is not a what but a “who.” Here is the back story from 2 Samuel 11. When King David should have been with his men on the battlefield fighting the enemies of Israel during the spring, he was in his palace. From his roof top he spotted a woman bathing. He sent for her knowing that she was married. Bathsheba was her name. He fathered a child in adultery. He then conspired to have her husband killed, assigning Uriah to the front lines without support. He was struck down. David was now free to marry Bathsheba. He went undetected, so he thought.
In 2 Samuel 12, God sent Nathan to David with a story that went something like this: A rich man with many sheep stole an only lamb of a poor man and slaughtered it to feed a guest. David was enraged. Who is this man? To which, Nathan replied, “You are that man.” The crux of this story and the answer to the question “What is sin”?” lies in David’s confession.
13Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." 2 Sam. 14:13
The answer to the question of what is sin is who do we really sin against—God. When we sin, it is an affront, first and foremost, against God. When we lie, kill, cheat and steal—all the actions David did in his commission of adultery with Bathsheba—we do it to God. This tenet is echoed in the New Testament view of how God judges as King of His coming kingdom. He sees things this way:
40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, [even] the least [of them], you did it to Me.' Matt. 25:40
How differently would you make choices if you saw God as the object of our adverse actions.
When you commit adultery, you are cheating on God.
When you perpetrate starvation, you are starving God.
When you steal from someone’s retirement fund, we are stealing from God.
When you shed the blood, you spill the blood of God through His son.
Here are some helpful applications of David’s perspective of sin that may mitigate the course of our choices:
Be where you are supposed to be. David should have been at war.
Heed the early information that warns you of danger zones. David ignored the fact that the woman on the roof was married.
One sin is in a chain-link to other sins. To steal you have to cheat. To cheat you have to lie. To kill you have to steal, etc.
Associate yourself with those who will show yourself to yourself like Nathan did to David.
Sin has concomitant consequences. David brought violence to Uriah’s house. Violence, now will not leave David’s house. David’s sin was thought to be a private matter. David will be shamed publicly. David took a life. The son he fathered lose his life.
Sam Bankman-Fried may spend the rest of his life in prison because he did not value the object of his choices. Its ultimately question is, not what we do to offend, but who we offend who is ultimate.
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