{"id":93511,"date":"2026-01-27T12:48:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=93511"},"modified":"2026-01-27T12:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:52:41","slug":"sin-leveling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sin-leveling\/","title":{"rendered":"Sin Leveling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Gardner Hall<\/p>\n<p>What is &#8220;sin leveling&#8221;? I recently heard this term, and the more I think about it, the more I think it describes a great evil. &#8220;Sin leveling&#8221; is giving the same weight to depraved or predatory acts that we give to the involuntary shortcomings that all disciples battle.<\/p>\n<p>But aren&#8217;t all sins equal? Only in the sense that all sins separate us from God and require the blood of Christ for spiritual cleansing. However, just as there are &#8220;<em>weightier matters of the law<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 23:23), there are &#8220;weightier&#8221; sins that reveal a more depraved heart than others. They leave their victims more traumatized than others.<\/p>\n<p>A biblical contrast: The apostle Paul asked for forgiveness in Acts 23:5 for harshly rebuking the high priest, unaware at the time that he was a man of authority. Although Paul felt the need to apologize for this transgression, it should by no means be equated with the depravity of the men of Sodom who wanted to rape the angels who visited Lot in Genesis 19. Yes, both acts can be described as sin, but they were by no means equal in their level of depravity.<\/p>\n<p>Sin leveling is often seen when someone suffers great trauma at the hands of someone who is popular or respected. In such cases, some give the victim advice like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Don&#8217;t take it so hard.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;We all sin.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;It&#8217;s better to forgive and move on.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Although this advice is understandable in a few contexts, it is often used to minimize the depth of the pain suffered by the victim, sometimes at the hands of a leader or a respected individual in the church.<\/p>\n<p>The victim of abuse needs their brethren to take their trauma seriously so they can help them find comfort in Christ. But often, instead of receiving aid, they receive &#8220;sin leveling.&#8221; The victim is told things like: &#8220;You sin too. We all need God&#8217;s grace.&#8221; Thus, they treat the exploitation by a person in authority, even sexual abuse, as if it were the same as the spiritual lapses that even holy servants of God must fight.<\/p>\n<p>A good sister told me about a preacher who touched her inappropriately and said suggestive things to her. She told me, &#8220;If I tell the brethren what happened, they will tell me that I am the one who is wrong and that I should forget it and move on.&#8221; She feared with some justification that the brothers would equate the depraved mindset revealed by the preacher&#8217;s actions and words with the shortcomings of sincere Christians like the apostle Paul.<\/p>\n<p>Shouldn&#8217;t we forgive? Yes, when there is confession and sincere repentance (Luke 17:3). So, what is the difference between leveling sin, something evil, and having a forgiving spirit? Two fundamental distinctions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>We tend to minimize and &#8220;level&#8221; the sins of those who are our friends, respected by others, or perhaps those with charming personalities.\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;He has served much in the kingdom.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Surely, it was just a moment of weakness.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;It&#8217;s better not to make a big deal out of it.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;After all, most men look at porn.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIf we tend to downplay the hurtful actions of our friends, allies, or popular figures when we would condemn them in others, that is sin leveling.<\/li>\n<li>Has the aggressor confessed their sin? Are they taking the difficult steps to battle their pornography, their carnality, their arrogance, or whatever led them to victimize others? If not, don&#8217;t defend them! We don&#8217;t help them by leveling their sin. Worse yet, if we do, we demoralize their victims.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t<h2>Additional Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>by Carl Petersen<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>We see different weights given to sins in both the Old and New Testaments. Under the law of Moses, sin and trespass offerings were for unintentional actions. One who sinned &#8220;<em>with a high hand<\/em>&#8221; (i.e., flagrantly) was to be cut off (Numbers 15:30-31). This principle is carried through to the New Testament in Hebrews 10:26-27.<\/li>\n<li>When a sin offering was required, the animal for that offering varied depending on who was making it. The scale of animals suggests that those in leadership had a greater responsibility.<\/li>\n<li>Just as the idea of &#8220;greatest&#8221; command refers to centrality more than priority (&#8220;<em>on these hang all the Law and the Prophets<\/em>&#8220;&#8211;the two great commands underpin the entire system, both Old and New), so it seems that more weight is placed on those transgressions that strike more directly at issues of God&#8217;s nature.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Gardner Hall What is &#8220;sin leveling&#8221;? I recently heard this term, and the more I think about it, the more I think it describes a great evil. &#8220;Sin leveling&#8221; is giving the same weight to depraved or predatory acts that we give to the involuntary shortcomings that all disciples battle. But aren&#8217;t all sins&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-93511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85683,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-on-sinful-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":0},"title":"Thoughts on &#8220;Sinful Nature&#8221;","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Unknown (Labeled \"Guest Editorial\") via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 2, June 30, 1990 Sinful natures exist. It would be foolish for any serious individual to deny it. How this comes about in a person's life and just who has a sinful nature are other matters. Please consider a few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-create-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":1},"title":"Does God Create Sinners?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerral Kay Catholics and Protestants teach that God creates sinners. They say that all babies are born totally depraved, wicked from birth. The Bible does not teach this. Jesus was born totally human, coming from a sinful mother, and according to their doctrine, all humans inherit sin from Adam.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Baby-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/total-depravity-or-total-inability\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":2},"title":"Total Depravity or Total Inability","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton Calvinism is commonly summarized and remembered by the use of an acrostic formula using the word TULIP. The first letter stands for \"Total Depravity\" or \"Total Spiritual Inability\". Let me let a Calvinist explain what is meant by this term. \"Total depravity is a concept that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AngryBaby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":48842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sin-repentance-and-judging-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":3},"title":"Sin, Repentance, and Judging Others","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Some discussions just seem odd to me. One such oddity goes along these lines (and it seems to happen over and over, especially on social media, so this is not a reference to one particular discussion): Person A: \"People who engage in this activity are in sin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/total-depravity\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":4},"title":"Total Depravity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 3:9-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Calvin proposed a five part system to explain salvation \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is generally remembered as TULIP, an acrostic from the first five letters of each point. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many denominations accept some or part of Calvinism without questioning whether those points are true. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8913,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-only-sin-to-be-repented-of-is-the-sin-of-murdering-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":93511,"position":5},"title":"Is the only sin to be repented of is the sin of murdering Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: For your information: The only Way that has been perfected to get into heaven is by the faith to repent of the one sin of Jesus' murder for the forgiveness of ALL sins. This is the only way to obey the Acts 2:38 command. Answer: I left the grammar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}