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I hope we’re not wasting our time comparing our sin to another’s. In a world obsessed with analytics, we could subconsciously slip into this foolishness I fear.

A quick Google search, like magic, gives us the top 100 rankings of just about anything. From world golf rankings to draft picks, from investment funds to college rankings. We seem to be infatuated with how everyone and everything measures up. Some of these rankings may be objective, and others are clearly subjective. I suspect our sinfulness compared to another’s would fall into the subjective category. Thankfully, none of us actually has the data on anyone’s sin quantity. I suspect we don’t even know the depth of our own.

Paul’s list of sin

In the introductory paragraphs of Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we read Paul’s list of his own sin. Being known as a blasphemer, persecutor, and a rude and arrogant opponent aren’t the sorts of things you would want as the basis of your reputation. But in Paul’s case, it was true, and he owned it. These were his past behaviors and attitudes, but as we all know, sometimes stuff sticks to us for a long time when it comes to reputation.

Later in these short verses, Paul is less specific about his various shortcomings but calls himself the foremost sinner of the day. Again we probably don’t know if he had sinned dramatically more than some others. But we do know he was rather famous for his persecution of the church, including endorsing the murder of innocent Christ-followers.

Transformed by grace

But now Paul was a changed man. He was transformed by the grace and mercy of God through the crucifixion and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. Paul focused on the word mercy in this paragraph. He received mercy because he had acted ignorantly in his behaviors. He once thought he was doing the right thing in response to his faith and education as a Pharisee. But he was uninformed and ignorant of the bigger truth that came through Jesus until his blinding moment on the Damascus road.

Paul further explained that he was shown mercy for a reason. And he could articulate the reason clearly: “that in me, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

How would you like to be known as the person who pushed someone else to perfect patience?! I think that would mean you are a tough nut to crack. Yet what Paul described is a Savior who loved us so much that he went to extreme measures to be patient with us until we surrendered to his love and mercy. Paul’s example also suggests that once we receive God’s mercy, we have a job of extending it to others just as it was shown to us.

Looking more like Jesus

I often find myself not being as merciful and loving as Jesus has been with me. I can’t really plead ignorance like Paul (or then Saul) did, because I already know Jesus and have years of experience learning to be more like him. What I can do is repent and change my attitude and behavior so that I look and behave more like Jesus. And you can do the same.

It seems that sometimes we get lost in our assessment of others both inside and outside the church. The better path is a quick self-assessment that helps us correct our mistakes and get back to our primary job of sharing Christ with others. When that happens, we will likely give a shout of praise just like the apostle Paul did after he owned his mistakes.