The Age of Christian Entitlement
“I know Jesus will forgive me.”
The last three posts have been a bit of a rant on sin that has been brewing for a while, but finally came to a head when I received the previous quote in an email. If the context for the quote were from one who was broken by the gravity of their sin, humbled by their failure, and is moving in a new direction then there is a tremendous amount of hope in that quote. But if the context is instead one of entitlement and apathy, then nothing but despair and frustration surface.
I probably didn’t coin this phrase, The Age of Christian Entitlement, but in my quest to understand my generation’s misunderstanding of the gravity of sin along with our inability to comprehend the love of God it came to me. In an effort to convert we, the Church, have tried to help people minimize their sin. We say things like, “You are no worse than me.” or “I’m just as bad.” The intention is to try to help people feel like they can be forgiven, but I wonder if it just makes them feel more comfortable with their sin. In our own lives we try to get as close to the line between sin and righteousness without going over instead of fleeing the line in the direction of righteousness. We tell people how much God loves them thinking that their desire to be loved will somehow convince them. Many have been baptized under the impression that God loves them and because of that love will excuse their sin. We have removed repentance from the equation, and that failure is leading to a lukewarm faith in America.
I’ve used phrases like the Age of Comfort to describe the American condition and how it has filtered down into the hearts of my own children and their friends who have been led to believe that not only are they entitled to iPhones, internet, cable, cars, clothes, and college, but heaven too. This overwhelming sense of fairness that plagues our youth, especially in the Bible Belt, makes them unable to comprehend how God would be unwilling to forgive them for their sin.
What entitles us to forgiveness, what entitles us to be co-heirs to the throne of grace, is that we have been transformed, changed, gone through a metamorphosis. It is not a change we have made, but have desired and regardless of how the Calvinist might spin it I do not believe God changes those who do not at least desire it, desire Him. While God may in fact be the one who moves us to that desire it does not negate the fact that we must be willing participants in the change process. I’ve already talked about how forgiveness in and of itself is a change here.
The Entitled Christian just wants the Get Out of Hell Free card, or the “get out of this set of circumstances which feels a whole lot like Hell free card.” They do not want or desire the change. They do not want or desire to realize the gravity of their sin. They do not want or desire intimacy with Christ if it requires change, repentance, transformation, metamorphosis.
I doubt the quoted person is reading my blog, but if you are…
There is NO “Get Out of Hell Free” card. You are not playing Monopoly, and there is more on the line than mortgaging Boardwalk. There is no forgiveness without repentance! You say you are a Christian, but your actions are the same as before. Just because you can add “taught the Bible” to your resume does not undo what you have done. Repent, my friend. Please, for your sake, for my sake, for the sake of the relationship you have with your kids and with your friends…repent. You are not entitled to anything but Hell in this life and the next unless you do, unless we all do.
We are not entitled to Christ!
Just Repent!
Sin and Repentance
People outside of the Church are supposed to sin. Their apathy toward sin and their failure to connect sin with the health of their soul are expected.
People inside the Church are supposed to sin too. However, their apathy toward sin and their failure to connect sin with the health of their soul as well as the health of the Church and the veracity of the Church’s testimony about a crucified and resurrected Christ whose Spirit resides inside of each of us is worthy of expulsion.
To flippantly proclaim that you know you are sinning and will continue to sin and that it is ok because Jesus will forgive you is an impotent proclamation because repentance is a necessary element. Repentance is not necessary in order to earn forgiveness, but is necessary in order to show that one appreciates the gravity of sin and that a change is desired. Forgiveness is in essence a change. If someone sins but does not desire to change, then forgiveness was never really desired. In reality, the person just wants God to overlook the rebellious act as a cashier might overlook the fact that you put a pack of gum in your pocket.
There is a big difference between a person who goes to God and says, “I need to change and want to change and agree with you that what I have done is wrong,” and a person who goes to God and says, “I know I messed up.” When a lender overlooks a debt it remains on the books. When a lender forgives a debt the books are changed to reflect a new debt. In the age of Christian Entitlement many in our churches are speaking with their mouths, “forgive me,” but are really saying, “overlook me.”
The book of Romans is mostly a theological treatise on sin. I would encourage everyone to read the book all the way through in one setting at least once in your life. It might be good to do before you minimize your next rebellious act.
Do You Know Joseph Kony?
He is the Adolf Hitler of our day and yet you don’t even know who he is.
There are two reasons Uganda has an orphan crisis. One is AIDS and other health related issues. The other is Joseph Kony. In the Northern part of Uganda, southern Sudan, and north-eastern Congo Joseph Kony has been kidnapping children and forcing them to kill their parents and then join his army. If you are a girl your role may be to provide sex. If you are a boy you will be called upon to intimidate, mutilate, and kill in the name of Joseph Kony. 30,000 children have been kidnapped in Uganda alone. His behavior has led to him being listed as the #1 most dangerous man on the planet according to the Interantional Criminal Court at The Hague in The Netherlands. Muammar Gaddafi, recently deposed dictator of Libya was #22.
Governements supported the overthrow of Gaddafi’s government simply because of oil. Joseph Kony doesn’t have any oil, but he has hands stained by the blood of thousands of innocent people. In 2012 the agency Invisible Children has made the capture of Joseph Kony an absolute must.
I encourage you to watch the following video, share it with anyone and everyone, talk about it with your children and friends, and churches and then join me to make Joseph Kony famous.