The Sin of Cain: Attitude or Action?

revised from an article written by Dean Isaacson ©2004

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son , go and work today in the vineyard.’
“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?
“‘The first,’ they answered.
“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.’” [Mat 21:28-32 NIV]

In 1994, the Republican Revolution turned Washington State politics on its head. They swept the House and increased their seats in the Senate of this formerly Democrat dominated State. However, as the biennium approached its close, it was clear very little of the promised reforms had received ever so much as a committee hearing, and most of the efforts of these newly-powerful Republicans were spent on bad law – even law that was opposed to the laws of the Bible.

Both co-speakers of the House were professing Christians. When I confronted one of the co-speakers of the House, he defended himself by claiming to spend time every day in the Scriptures and prayer with other members of the House. On another occasion, I approached another member who was known as a “strong Christian leader.” His defense was identical to the House co-speaker. They both told me because of their fellowship in study and prayer they cannot help but think that their every step was ordered of the Lord and within God’s will – regardless what they did. They could do no wrong – because their attitude was positive. At least, that was the premise.

The Bible warns us not to have this attitude. Jeremiah rebuked the people of Judah for having a positive attitude, making an appearance of serving God by attending church and then going their own way, capitulating to sin and even promoting it, the rest of the week (Jer 7:1-16). To the people, attitude trumped obedience.

There is a phenomena I have witnessed in recent years: When Godly people stand up to evil within society and even the church, they are marginalized for their “attitudes.” I even hear pastors rebuking Christians for embarrassing God via an overly zealous witness, or even a profession of faith with a bad attitude, or a combination of the two. What does the Bible say? Can God be embarrassed? Remember, this is the God who required one prophet to walk naked in public for three years; another to lay on his side in public for three hundred ninety days and then do the same on the other side for forty days; another to wear an ox-yoke in public and proclaim destruction. Was God embarrassed? Not hardly. In fact, He says “All who rage against [His prophets] will surely be ashamed and disgraced. [Isa 41:11NIV] Those who oppose God will be embarrassed, but God is never embarrassed.

Years ago, I had the unpleasant task of bringing charges against a church elder before the elder board. I was very discreet, never mentioning his name during the meeting, just requesting an executive hearing and never talking about the situation to other church members. This elder had been the chairman of the local school board and was instrumental in bringing in homosexual sex education while claiming it was “abstinence based.” The elder board was floored – they spent the better part of an hour discussing my motivation – even though they knew my charges were true! My attitude, even though I was not hostile, was to them a greater concern than a professing brother promoting evil in the community. And to them, the act suggested a bad attitude.

You see, my friend, we have entered the age of relationship, the age of the positive attitude, the age of the team player – the new age of the Tower of Babel. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think relationship can be good – but it has become the new mantra. God has not called us to relationship per se, He has called us to a relationship of walking in faith and obedience!

If our goal in relationship is a feeling – and that is the general reception, it can become our idol. Our feelings are not a valid substitute for obedience. In fact, using our feelings as an instrument of measure is the opposite of proclaiming Christ’s authority – it places our subjective values above God – it places us above God. Positive feelings may lead to positive attitudes but faith is manifest by what we do, our actions, our deeds – our obedience.

Without obedience, relationship means nothing. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” [Rev 3:20 NASB] God is not inviting us to a relationship of warm fuzzy feelings. Quite the opposite – in this passage, He has just rebuked this body of believers for being neither hot nor cold. Did this describe their attitude? No, it was their deeds. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.” [Rev 3:15 NIV] If He rebuked them because their deeds were compromised, was He looking to rebuild the relationship on positive attitudes?

In Hebrews chapter eleven, there is a listing of the ancient fathers and the examples of their faith. In every case that faith produced some action. An act of obedience was produced because of their faith. It is important to get this point straight: We cannot be saved by what we do but if we are truly saved our lives will produce deeds that result in obedience (Eph 2:10).

Attitude means nothing – action means everything. And at the final judgment, men will be judged by what they have done – not by their attitude (Rev 20:12, 13; Jud 15; Rom 2:6). Look again at the opening Scripture for this article. In the parable, Christ presents two brothers; one with a good attitude who did not obey and one with a bad attitude but he did obey. Christ commended the obedient – no rebuke was tendered against his attitude.

So what does all this have to do with Cain? Cain was rebuked for bringing an unacceptable sacrifice before the Lord (Gen 4). It is often presented that he was judged for his attitude but there is no place in Scripture where this premise is supported.

On the other hand, the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.” [Heb 11:4 NIV] Abel’s obedience was an action, not an attitude. It was the act of presenting God with the sacrifice He required.

Cain sinned by refusing to give God the sacrifices He required. This was manifest in his action, bringing God a sacrifice of his own choosing. Before Cain committed murder, God warned him to change his action – not to change his attitude. God’s warning was not that his anger was going to lead to more sin, even murder. Let me say this again, God warned him if he did not change his action, he was going to be consumed by sin! “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.” [Gen 4:7 NIV] Attitude means nothing – actions mean everything.

Can we have attitudes that are wrong? Certainly, but the Bible seldom takes issue with a man’s attitude unless it affects his actions – or, more accurately, the other way around. Modern psychologized (new word) man makes a big case about attitude – the Bible does not. Here is one last example and it is found in Numbers chapter twenty. God commanded Moses to speak to the rock and water would pour out. But Moses, armed with a bad attitude toward the rebellious hearts of the people, took credit for bringing forth the water and struck the rock twice with his staff. You may say his attitude was sinful but God never said that; He rebuked him for his actions – his disobedience.

The more I study Scripture, the more it appears bad actions lead to bad attitudes – not the other way around. So, why do modern preachers harp on attitude when it is a worldly standard to walk by how we feel? We subjectively measure our feelings and today, in society, in law and in relationships, we measure the offense by our feelings. The degree of the offender’s bad attitude measures the level of the offense. Bad attitudes are the sin of the positive new age.

Consider how many evil men are praised for their great attitudes. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1Sa 16:7). Jesus affirmed this when He said man is not polluted by what he eats but by what is in the heart (Mar 15) because it is the heart that determines whether a man’s deeds will be good or evil (Luk 6:45). If we measure people by their attitude, we are using mans’ standard. God has a standard – man is not judged by his attitude, or feelings. Just like Cain, we are judged by what we do.