Don't Turn Your Head

Over the last two entries in this journal, I’ve conveyed what I thought of sin and forgiveness, as a general topic, and more specifically how it relates to some very heated issues that are being discussed today. Basically, I think that I’ve argued that we aren’t supposed to stop people from sinning, but to show God’s love to them, so that we can change their hearts.

There is a lot involved in that. Just being nice isn’t enough. Jesus wasn’t just a nice guy. Neither was Paul. In Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles, Aslan isn’t a tame lion. He isn’t a nice lion. But, he is a good lion. Jesus isn’t tame, but he is good. Jesus and his disciples were men of action. They cast out demons, they healed the sick, they taught in the temple. They were vocal about what they believed in. Jesus spoke to crowds that numbered into the thousands.

So this really is just a brief overview of the philosophy that guides our actions. And summarizing the last two entries, I think I’ve stated that we may want to love people and become involved in their lives. Through that we can share Christ with them. I’ve also said it isn’t our place to correct or to accuse. But I think some people take this too far, and deny that sin even exists. Paul was vocal about what he believed in, and he taught love, but he didn’t teach an easy message.

Paul wasn’t afraid to point out that something was, in fact, sinful. Neither was Jesus. After healing people, sometimes he would remark “go and sin no more” or prelude a miracle with, “your sins are forgiven.” To carry on with my theme and apply it to a hot moral topic, what Paul seems to describe as homosexuality is described as sinful. But so is lust, greed, slandering, gossiping. Why are these things sinful? I think we passed over this briefly, but entire volumes could be written exploring the subject.

Suffice to say that the reason we need the love of God and the forgiveness of God is because we have sinned. Without sin, we wouldn’t need forgiveness, we wouldn’t need the blood of Christ, and we wouldn’t need repentance or redemption or sanctification. It is through recognition that we are sinful people that we strive to get closer to Christ and to conquer sin in our lives. Sometimes this recognition can be painful. I know that when I look back on my own life, I sometimes wince, because I remember how painful a lesson might have been. But I also look back in wonder at what I’ve been taught.

Sometimes we might want to shy away from this part of Faith, and I think that that is exactly what it is a part of. Because as a stander by, it takes Faith that God is at work on the lives of those we minister to, to be able to be bold enough to address this issue, and to be able to challenge our brothers and sisters. We don’t want to hurt anyone, or to point the finger and say sinner. But I don’t think that that is the way it has to be.

There is a difference between receiving condemnation from an enemy, and a challenge motivated by love or concern from a friend. That is why I think developing close relationships, actually coming to love people who do not yet know Christ or who are living deep in sin, is very very important to changing their lives. Because it is easier to accept a hard word when it is said in love, than when it is said in anger. To sidestep this tough word, I think, is to hold back from them something that is good, because we are afraid of how it will affect them.

Once a person, a sinner, an unsaved man or woman, recognizes that Christ is their savior and confesses their faith that is only the beginning. No, not beginning, forgiveness is the root without which the seed cannot grow, and will die in its absence. We must have faith that is was not by our words that such a person is saved, but by Christ ministering to their hearts. We don’t have to condone a sinful act to avoid an insult. It doesn’t have to be an insult, it can be done out of love. And we cannot forget to encourage and lift up those who struggle with sin, to remind them that they are forgiven, and they are beloved, and that by no act can they be separated from God’s love. Always push in the direction of love and forgiveness, because the other roads lead to punishment.