The controversy roiling the church leads me back to the basics. Do we agree on the definition of sin? Must a sin hurt another person, or can it hurt God without (apparently) hurting another person? A possible candidate for the latter is idolatry. What would be the appropriate response if a congregant said: “I agree that God is the supreme being of the universe and that Jesus is his Son. But I also believe in a pantheon of lesser gods. If you love me, you’ll approve of my setting up an altar to the lesser gods in our sanctuary”?
Scott Smith
Greensboro, N.C.
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