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.
The Approach to Sin
We, the Church, have multiple approaches in how we deal with sin in people’s lives.
The Fire and Brimstone approach. It isn’t necessarily my method of choice, but to some degree we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God. God doesn’t like sin. In fact, I would argue that God hates sin as much as He loves people. However, we are not to beat up people for sin of which they have already repented. Nor are we to try to prove ourselves righteous by pointing to the sin of another. We must always weigh the gravity of sin with the love of God.
The “God is Love” approach. Also isn’t my method of choice, but is definitely popular in some circles. God is love, and does love people. However, we should not confuse beating up repentant people with tolerance of unrepentant people. There is no room to tolerate sin within the context of the Church, and I would argue that there is no room to tolerate people who refuse to repent. Especially those who proclaim to know Christ.
In my criticism of each of these approaches I recommend the following approach. Teach sin and its lasting impact upon the human and upon their relationships and upon the Church. Correct as Scripture dictates and discipline without apology. While the opportunities to break fellowship with unrepentant Christians should be few I am afraid that in this day and age of Christian Entitlement, more on that later, the opportunities will present themselves more often. We must always be mindful that the purity of the Church is at stake and that God will lead people to repent and being removed from fellowship will be a moment that God can use. We also must continually correct one another in love and live lives of repentance so that we do not grow callous to our own sin.
The Gravity of Sin
Many of us treat sin as if it is just a three letter word. It doesn’t cause us to recoil like many of sin’s four letter friends. In the Church if we mishandle sin, especially with how we teach about sin, then we may raise up a generation of people who do not appreciate the gravity of sin.
We, the Church, have often been guilty of focusing upon John 3:16 without remembering the “Why?” Why did God have to give His one and only Son? Sure, God loves us, but why? John 1:29 gives us the answer, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (NLT)
The reality of sin is it cost God His Son. Sure, He got Him back, but I don’t know of a loving parent who would be willing to allow their child to experience death at the guarantee of getting them back. Although this is exactly what we are promised in Christ.
On a cosmic level sin is rebellion against God. It is treason committed against the Creator of the universe. It is a personal offense against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It created separation between God and a legion of angels and it created separation between God and creation, between God and you and I.
On a personal level sin negatively impacts every interpersonal relationship. It impacts how we view ourselves, and it impacts how we interact with creation. Within the context of the Church, because we are the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), when one sins the whole of the Church is negatively impacted.
The negative impact can be that the whole is corrupted (1 Cor. 5:6-7). If a sin is tolerated by one then it could manifest itself multiple times like yeast in dough.
The negative impact can be that the testimony of the Church about Jesus is made impotent. The world will know us by our love (John 13:35), and yet how do we love one another if we are willing to sin and be unrepentant of that sin. The world will eventually see no difference in the Church, and in many situations this is indeed the case. When a high profile Christian sins and that person remains unrepentant it does very little to promote the power of a risen Lord.
The negative impact can be broken relationships. Not only does sin fracture our relationship with God, but our relationship with our children, our spouses, our friends, our neighbors, our pastor, our brothers and sisters, with the Church down the street and with the Church around the world. The ripple effect of our sin is hard to appreciate, but because we are all one body we are impacted both positively and negatively by what another part does. It is sobering to note that a Christian in Somalia who has to fear being killed for having a few pages of the Bible in their house is further injured by my choice to rebel against God. A God they risk their lives for every day. It is easy to excuse our thoughts and actions when we believe the context for our actions remains small, but the truth of the gravity of sin is that it is a cosmic disaster injuring every Christian.