Leviticus 4:1-35

I find it very interesting that this chapter is dedicated to how all different levels of leaders and people are to deal with unintentional sins that they might commit.  There are many times in our lives when we sin without having the intention of sin.  We may have the tendency to think that unintentional sins are not as serious and therefore we often mistakenly think that we don’t need to deal with them.  Moses made it clear that this was not the case.  Sacrifices must be made even for unintentional sin.  We may sin out of ignorance or lack of ability or attention to something but it is still sin with which we must deal in our lives.

UNINTENTIONAL SIN IS STILL SIN: Certainly motives and intentions are important to God and He knows them far better than we ourselves know them.  However, good intentions do not discount or erase sinful actions.  God has made provision for all of our sin through Christ, but all sin is damaging to us as well as our relationship to God.  All of us sin unintentionally and all of us have sin in our lives that is unknown to us.  We must resist the urge to think that these sins are simply excused.  God required that the children of Israel make sacrifices to restore fellowship after unintentional sin.  When we sin in this way we are still called by Scripture to repent of this sin, make restitution for this sin, confess this sin to God and other people to whom confession is appropriate and then enjoy the fellowship of walking in a restored relationship with God.  This course of action will allow us to live a life of joy before the Lord to a far greater extent than simply making excuses for that which was initially unintentional.

LEADERS ARE HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD: I find it very interesting to note that priests, leaders and the average citizen all had to make sacrifices as a result of unintentional sin, but these sacrifices were different from one another.  It seems clear that the priests and the leaders were required to make more costly sacrifices than the average population.  Leaders are always held to a higher standard of conduct and they always suffer a more severe consequence for their sin.  The principle of to whom much is given, much is required is a harsh reality under which every leader must serve.  Since leaders are normally very active in relationships with other people and they tend to talk more than the average person; their opportunities for unintentional sin seem to be more common.  As leaders we must learn to humbly recognize our sin, and seek to restore any brokenness that may have come from our sin even if that sin was unintentional.  Those who are quick to make excuses for their sin tend to be quickly disqualified from leadership.  That is why humility is vital to leadership.