I could be wrong, but I think that both could be sins. Why do I say this. Firstly there is the recognition that you want reassurance that they are not sins, which to me states the old adage that , “If you have to ask, then there is something here that is not right.”
Sometimes, when going into the store I will see a lot of trash in the parking lot that is large and obvious, like whole McDonald’s bags of spent food trash or entire cardboard boxes and papers of trash. Sometimes I pick up this trash and deposit it into the trash can outside the grocery store. Other times I just walk on by because I don’t feel like picking up other lazy peoples garbage. But when I walk on by something tugs at my heart and as soon as I take a few steps my heart sinks and I feel sad that I did not have the strength to pick up the trash. Then I immediately tell myself those reinforcing lines of rejection, “Its not my trash”, or “I just don’t have time right now”. But that’s not the truth. The truth is that I just didn’t feel like being burdened by other peoples trash. When I say it like this it is obvious that when I avoid “Doing what is right” then I am doing what is wrong. Is it a sin? In my opinion yes. Just as it is a sin for everyone who simply walks on by when they know something is wrong and they can do something to fix it. The fact that it is only a piece of trash instead of a person in need of true help is beside the point. We cannot judge what is right and wrong by degrees of severity. The sins are complete and not bad for some and not bad for others. It is a sin for anyone to steal, no matter how small the value of the item is. Stealing a pen from work is the same as taking a million dollars.
Why is this the case? It is because the sin that is happening is internal to you, not external in what the items are that surround you. You would be taking something that does not belong to you and you would be making the choice to do this despite the fact that it is wrong. The amount or value of what was taken is not the essence of the wrong, for sometimes someone may take something of great material value just to deprive someone else of the object, thus the value of the object in dollars was less of a matter than its sheer loss. Other times people may take something of very little material value, but that holds great sentimental value to the person who it was taken from, like a shell or old picture. This is why none of the commandments relate to material value, but only the deed itself as being wrong.
If what you have done prompts you to say, “Is it wrong” than many times one says this because they want to say, “It was not my responsibility”, “I didn’t do it”. And so, prompts the question, “Am I my brothers keeper?”, in which the answer was, “Yes, we are our brothers keepers”. Remember that Christ suffered for our sins, not his own, and it is we who must do as he did and suffer for others as well as ourselves. We are to be perfect, as our heavenly father is perfect, and not settle for only halfway or excuses as to why we can or should go no further.
