Good Versus Evil

So I have been thinking about this for a long time. I read the book "Three" by Ted Dekker this summer, and it has given me a lot to think about. The main theme is good versus evil, and the levels of evil in the world. The main question that is raised in this book is the fact that all people have both good and evil in them, and is there really a difference in different types of sin.

For example, is gossip equivalent to murder? By first thought, one would say obviously murder is worse, but gossip is hurtful as well. In some ways the lesser of the two sins is more problematic because it is insiduous and people do not realize the harm they are causing. The other aspect of "lesser sin" is that people can rationalize them by thinking thoughts such as "I am not as bad as so-and-so who has been arrested" and then go home and abuse alcohol, talk about others, and many other things. Thinking that there are different levels of evil or sin is a slippery slope, and one can get to a point where it is easy to rationalize more and more sin.

This then made me think of my own life, and really got me to think of all sin as equivalent to murder, and that thought really takes my breath away. I know that in one respect gossip is no way near the same, but if the repentance is not there, the sin does not matter.