THE SCENARIO: Hadnuff is playing with fire; they are tinkering with Sin. They are now sort of at a crossroads—if they turn to the right they will continue in the way of Christ, but Hadnuff has tip-toed to the left a lot lately, sort of back and forth, right a little bit, and then to the left again, further and further to the left. You see, over there on the left it looks like the grass is a bit greener and the paths appear to be smoother, while over here on the right, where they have been most of their life, it has in fact been pretty tough, and Hadnuff’s forays to the left have given them the impression that maybe they need to be heading left more often, maybe permanently.
In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:
1. Would you agree that only a Christian could possibly be tinkering with sin, since a non-Christian, not having any sensibility regarding Sin, sins freely? Your answer here is important as we will build on this in point 6.
2 Tinkering with Sin is bad news. Sin is insidiously slick, and its deadly potentialities are camouflaged typically. Hadnuff’s leftward forays will probably not grieve them, or worse, for a while, but then like a cobra, Sin will strike at them, and strike to kill (Gal 6:7-8). How would you complete this sentence: “I worry about tinkering with Sin because________” (If you are not worried about tinkering with Sin, then please explain why you are not worried about it; if you can honestly say you do not tinker with Sin, then good for you). How about this sentence, how would you complete it: “I know a Christian who tinkered with Sin and it folded back on them like so______; to God’s disservice like so______.”
3. Samson and king Saul are two examples of men who had a certain connection to God and yet tinkered with Sin to their grievous hurt, and to God’s disservice. What was it that Samson tinkered with that got him in trouble—was it (a) His friendship with the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who coerced him into sabotaging Israel, or (b) His ever-more-blatant heckling of God’s prophet Samuel, or (c) His carousing and self-confidence in his strength, charm, and wit, or (d) His intriguing to take the throne away from king David? How about Saul—what did he tinker with that got him in trouble, to God’s disservice; was it (a) Pride and jealousy, or (b) His espousing of and lending military support to the pagan conqueror Alexander the Great, or (c) His tinkering with the occult, or (d) His over-confidence in and infatuation with his long, thick, lion’s-mane-like head of hair? Before you click the answers link, please give it your best here on your own.
4. See if you can discern the motif of tinkering with sin and/or its consequences in these verses; think particularly about the threshold of transition from tinkering to practiced, resolute sinning (try also to picture in your mind the timing and the motivations at work); please discuss any three in that regard: ( Gen 3:6, 4:5-8, Job 15:35, Psa 7:12-16, Isa 59:4, Mic 2:2, Mat 26:14-16, Jas 1:15)—can you think of verses or biblical precedents that bear out this motif that we have overlooked?
5. Can you name seven ways that Satan tries to deceive us that we are NOT tinkering with Sin on those occasions when in fact we are tinkering with a sin of one sort or another. Please ask God to help you see Satan’s ploys here.
6. Concerning motivations for tinkering with sin—in Hadnuff’s case, they think that the discipline of the Christian life (discipleship responsibilities) is too great, and so they have begun to entertain (tinker with) notions of abandoning it, little by little, a piece at a time. Hadnuff is starting to trade in their eternal perspective for a more temporal one; is starting to trade in their “sojourner status” as a Christian in this life (Hbr 11:13-16) for a “go for the gusto status” as a liver of life at its fullest, for their personal best satisfaction and ease, today. This is the particular sin that Hadnuff is tinkering with. We are sad for Hadnuff, and are praying that God will bring them back to their senses. Of course there are all manner of motivations that might cause a Christian to tinker with sins of one sort or another (way too many to engage in this forum). Usually (we use that word carefully) a Christian will not consciously set out to sin per se, but they will certainly tinker oftentimes, as though it were not a sin somehow. Here is another example: A Christian knows that it is dead wrong to gossip; God hates gossip; yet they will tinker with gossip in ingenious, camouflaged ways, and at the same time they usually know full well what they are really doing and that it is wrong; but to satisfy their gossip-lust, they just tinker with it; just “dance on the edges,” if you will, with a foot in each camp. This is because down deep they are motivated as a gossip, or perhaps by sins of jealousy, hatred, etc., which they, as Christians, should have surrendered to Christ. It seems, then, on that basis, for a Christian to tinker with a given sin/s reveals some serious unresolved spiritual problems at work that need the Holy Spirit’s immediate sensitizing and resolving attention probably. The tinkering shows some additional and/or other deeper Sin issues at work perhaps. What do you think? What motivates Christians to tinker with Sin?
7. Dear Christian friend, may the blessed Holy Spirit sensitize you and I to the end that we may see and acknowledge our tinkerings with Sin; that with His help we might turn about-face away from them pronto. Christ bless you Christian friend.
Concerning Samson, we think (c) His carousing and self-confidence in his strength, charm, and wit is correct. Samson tinkered with self-dependence (he “forgot” that God empowered him; blessed him), and to some degree perhaps he tinkered with cavalier buffoonery.
Concerning Saul, we think (a) Pride and jealousy and (c) His tinkering with the occult are correct. Moreover, who knows if (a) was tinkering in the strict sense here concerning Saul, his nature may have been such that pride and jealousy consumed him; God knows. He clearly tinkered, and then went headlong all the way into the occult. This is the danger of tinkering with Sin—it starts out as just tinkering perhaps, but sooner or later it takes over. Let us not tinker with the weapons that our God’s enemy utilizes in effort to strike at us to our death, and in effort to grieve God. It is best just to walk away from it cold turkey if one is doing it, or never start tinkering with Sin in the first place is even better/smarter. God will always place before one a non-sin alternative if one asks Him, but one has to really want this alternative.