Pet Peeves



The last few weeks, the idea of pet peeves has been bouncing around in mind. An event happened this morning that caused it to enter again. I was driving to work at 5:50ish am on the expressway when I went around a car in the right lane when I saw another car coming up behind me really close. I had every intention of getting back in the right lane but I guess the guy wanted to tell me he was going to run me over if I stayed in the left lane. I thought it weird but I can’t fault the person too much because I hate it when slower people drive in the left lane of the road; that’s for passing the slower cars.

We all have pet peeves; the word means a minor annoyance that an individual identifies more particularly annoying to him or her, to a greater degree than others may find it. My personal pet peeves are (but not limited to) slower drivers staying in the left lane when they can move over to the right (as mentioned above), drivers not using their turning signal to show they are changing lanes or actually turning, people not saying thank you for holding the door open for them, men or women who think more is better when putting on the perfume/cologne (especially when it causes my eyes to water), and when people at the gym leaving weights on the bars when they are finished which causes you to ask if they are done or makes you put them away. My pet peeves’ list could go on and on depending on what mood I’m in.

My mind works a little differently than most people so when I think about pet peeves I start to wonder what God’s pet peeves are. The only one that I can think of off hand would be “SIN” but saying sin is a pet peeve of God’s would not give the right idea of sin and how God sees it.

The New Testament uses 5 main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. The most common is Hamartia (the missing of a target, the failure to attain a goal). Followed by Adikia (unrighteousness or iniquity), Poneria (evil of a degenerate kind), Parabasis (a transgression or stepping over a know boundary), and Anomia (a violation of a known law). In each case either a standard is failed to be reached or a line deliberately crossed.

It is assumed throughout scripture that the law was established by God. It is, in fact, His moral law, which expresses His righteous character. Sin is in itself self-centeredness. Sin is not a regrettable lapse from conventional standards; its essence is hostility to God. Sin is a breaking away from God and from the rest of humanity – an act of rebellion.

Sin is not a pet peeve of God’s. Because of His holiness, He cannot look at it or even be around it. The topic of pet peeves has generated into a discussion on God’s holiness which I will post more on next time.