Taking care of my own faults

I saw a friend post this today ... it convicted me.

The Barna Research Group reported that 29% of adult Baptists have been through a divorce. Only my demographic (non-denominational churches) had a higher rate at 34%. Of major Christian denominations, the Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest rate of divorce, perhaps because they can drink. Regardless, shouldn't a relationship with Christ reduce the divorce rate significantly? It absolutely should. So why aren't we different?

The standard judgmental Christian approach is to rail against sins that are either not a concern for us personally or those that don't wander too close to home. For example, a sin that appalls me is....drumroll, please....crack use. Why? Because I have never had a problem with drugs, and crack users tend to be from a different segment of the population than my own. So I can rail and rail against the evils of crack. Smokers? Feel my wrath. I witnessed the slow death of my stepgrandfather from emphysema and consequently never had a desire to smoke. But my conviction was born out of revulsion at the ugly death of my grandfather more than any upright spiritual convictions. If the conversation moves to caffeine addiction, my fervor goes away, and my profound belief in personal space and the separation of church and Starbucks increases dramatically.

Here is a list of sins that typically appall Christians:

Drugs
Drinking
Smoking
Premarital sex
Extramarital sex
Pornography
Cursing
Homosexuality
Immodest Dress

And here is a list of sins that we should care about, but typically don't because caring might interfere with our daily business.

Gossip
Greed
Selfishness
Materialism
Anger
Bitterness
Pride
Unforgiveness
Racism
Envy
Lust
Sexism
Classism
Indifference
Homophobia

The bottom line is this: In our human condition, it is a heck of a lot easier to confess other people's sins than our own. I can spot a sin a mile away in the fog. My own are not as readily apprarent to me.