“But I say to you; it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:22 NKJV).
Three times thus far I have traveled to the mountainous district of Dhading in north-central Nepal. Each time I have crossed passes of up to 14,000 feet elevation. Is that high? Well it depends.
Considering that I have spent most of my life at elevations well under 1,000 feet, and have lived much of it in a state whose highest point is less than 3,000 feet, one might say that 14,000 is very high. It is far higher than anywhere else I have ever been, and far higher than the altitudes to which I am accustomed.
In Nepal’s Himalayas, however, 14,000 feet is a fairly modest altitude. Most of the popular mountain trekking routes for tourists will cross passes well over 15,000 feet, and more than a few approach or exceed 20,000.
Mount Everest, of course, is just over 29,000 feet in elevation. We were still short of half-way to its peak when at our highest point.
All comparative adjectives are relative. How hot is hot water? How far is further? The answer must depend upon the frame of reference – that to which something is being compared.
Spiritually there is a natural interest in the relative seriousness of sin. Are there little sins and big sins? Which is which? Is God more incensed over some human actions than others? Many people seem comfortable practicing some things which they have decided are not serious enough to excite God’s wrath. “He won’t really mind” about those things seems to be the attitude.
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 11 may be used to justify this approach. The lack of faith found in Capernaum and other Galilean cities brought his wrath upon them. Stating that it would be “more tolerable” for notorious cities like Tyre and Sidon than for these sleepy Jewish villages was equivalent to proclaiming, “You are worse even than they.”
Some take this to justify our being satisfied with a lesser state of sinfulness. If I can prove that someone else is worse than me, does that not mean that God will punish them and let me escape? It is like the person driving 10 miles over the speed limit who complains to the officer who stopped him, “Another car passed me a minute ago like I was standing still; you should have stopped him instead of me.”
The guilt of others is irrelevant to our own. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
That another’s sin may seem worse than ours does not lessen the evil and abomination of our own. Sin is not relative. God’s word is true; his commands are authoritative. We ignore or violate them at great peril, whatever others may do.
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).