Many Christian people may not be familiar with the term ‘omission’ in respect to their religious obligations. Some would prefer to use the term ‘sloth’ as opposed to omission. It is listed among the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ which are: pride, anger, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust. Many theologians feel that sloth is the single worst vice one can have. Omission or sloth is defined as: apathy, hardness of heart, moral indifference, blind- ness, complacency, and “smallness of soul. Alex Green defined it as “Encompassing everything we should do but don’t.”
Sins of commission are easy to identify. But sins of omission are a lot trickier to define. One might say that Poverty, injustice and suffering exist, in part, because we don’t act. Our legal system is clearly part of the problem. Society, in general, places less impor- tance on what we do not do (but should) than on what we do. For example it is clearly wrong to drown someone but our legal system will not prosecute you for letting someone drown. Plutarch said, “The omission of good is no less reprehensible than the commis- sion of evil.” Even Paul the Apostle while in Rome bewailed his sins of omission. “For I do not do the good I want…” (Romans 7:19).
Many feel that if a person does not use the talents they have been granted or blessed with for the good of others, they sin! Whether those talents come from birth or whether they were developed here, does not matter. Oliver Wendell Holmes was one with that belief, he said, “You commit a sin of omission if you do not utilize all the power that is within you. All men have claims on man, and to the man with special talents, this is a very special claim.” If that were totally true, the gifted and talented would be merely puppets of the poor, the sick and the otherwise needy of society.
All men have agency and some may choose to obligate their time and talents to treat societal ills. Others with similar talents may choose to limit their service to society so that they can pursue a life of their own. There has to be an appropriate balance so that all may pursue personal happiness as well as try to fulfill any obligation they may feel to society and their God.
I believe most people, whose lives have been blessed, feel an obligation to society and where they see a need they try to assist where they can. There are those who feel such a strong obligation that when they fail to perform, based on their own expectations, they suffer. William Faulkner expressed the pain that some may feel,
“Night is nothing but one long sleepless wrestle with yesterday’s omissions and regrets,” and a Poet added,
“It isn’t the thing you do dear, It’s the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache At the setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear, Are your haunting ghosts at night.”
Most orthodox religions teach that omission is to fail to do something that one ought to do. If this failure happens by free choice it is considered a sin. Probably the best scriptural example of both the commission of good and the omission of the good that should have been done is found in Matthew. “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (The second half of the Savior’s statement is often left unsaid) “Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” (Matt 25:40–45) Even though the term omission was not mentioned, the point is obvious.
In church recently, a brother told the story of how his conscience pricked him until he was moved to act in behalf of another. As he was driving home the other night, he passed a man who was sitting on a bench at a bus stop. It was fairly late and he wondered if the buses were still running that late. It happened that the bus stop was directly across from his apartment and he could see the man sitting there long after the bus should have picked him up. It was a cold night and even though the man had on a coat he was obviously cold. The brother went to bed and as he lay there he began to worry about the man. He got up, put on some clothes and drove by the man who was still sitting on the bench. He stopped and asked him if he could give him a lift somewhere. The man hesitantly said, “Yes!” and that he was going down town. When they went a few blocks he said this will be fine and started to get out. The brother asked him if he lived around there and the man then confessed that he was homeless. So the brother drove him to St. Anne’s shelter and went in with him to make sure he was taken care of for the night. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Had he not gotten out of bed, the omission would have been thus,
“Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” “Everyone is guilty of the good he didn’t do” anon.
How good it feels to do things for others as this brother did. We have to be consciously aware of the needs of others as we pass them in life. If they have an obvious need that we have the power to satisfy, we must not pass them by. We must not omit them! May God give us the inner strength to do what we ought!