In Mark Dever's book "The Gospel & Personal Evangelism" he has a quotation from a very famous TV evangelist, which caused me to stop and reflect. Here it is....
"I don't think that anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality, and hence counterproductive to the evangelistic enterprise, than the unchristian, uncouth strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition"
Does anyone else have a problem with this? Our greatest problem is that we are sinful from birth and therefor enemies of God. Christ is our greatest need! In order for us to understand the necessity of Jesus Christ we need to understand why. The why is because we are lost and sinful. Our greatest need is not health or wealth, it is not happiness, it is not even food or water. Our greatest need is to be saved from the Wrath of God! If we teach that the recognition of sin is not important are we not saying that Christ died in vain?
7 comments:
As I read your post it reminded of of the famous "Be Attitudes," in Matthew 5 where Christ says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." That "mouring" part, Christ is talking about sin. In other words, those who mourn over their sin shall be comforted. I wonder what we would be like if we ACTUALLY lived that out. If we realize how destructive sin is and because of that destructiveness we realize the need of our savior and His forgiveness.
Yes Christ grace and forgiveness is never ending, but as I was sharing with someone the other night about the whole concept of grace, I believe that because God's grace and forgiveness is profound, it causes us to re-think about that sin and turn and walk the other way.
On the surface this sounds ridiculous and anti-Christian. And since i don't know the context at which it was said i will assume the devil's advocate for the sake of thinking outside the box.
First, in no way do i think that we as people-human beings, that we are without sin, that we weren't born into sin; just so that's clear. So here goes:
When i read this quote i think of countless Christians, or at least those who claim to be, go and slam others because they are sinful and living in sin. They come out verbally swinging in fact. Where the bible says love your neighbor it comes out in their lives more like, bash your neighbor and in this fact HAS hurt the cause of Christ. No one, Christian or otherwise, no one wants to be verbally assaulted in the name of any deity, because then it's more than just being made to feel little and small by a single person but by a movement. It's much like the quote from my friend Boo that says, "He who claims to follow Christ but does not love didn't follow Him very far". This is what i think of when i hear this quote. Some people when they hear the name Jesus are put into this defensive mode and ready to fight verbally as well as physically.
Some of this has to do with what is going on with them internally, even spiritually however I think a lot of damage HAS been done by those who choose to beat others with the bible rather than learning to love others from it.
i realize that loving others definitely involves telling them things they don't want to hear, but this shouldn't come before caring for the person as a person. To put it another way...
If people don't know you then they don't know that you are sharing with them that they are sinners and lost to sin without Christ because you love them, in fact all they hear is YOUR condemnation of them, forget that the second half of the statement is that Christ has set of free from that sin and we no longer have to wade into the stinking depths of our depravity but cling to the hope of redemption through Christ's finished work and sacrificial blood and life. They don't hear that, they hear that they aren't good enough, which we aren't-on our own; they hear that they are nothing, and without Christ essentially we aren't...but the point we are trying to make, gets lost because we forget what it's like to listen but never hearing and seeing but never perceiving, in reality we lose sight of how hurting from sin our audience actually is. Christ was hyper critical to two groups only, the Pharisees and teachers of the law because THEY put on a heavy weight on the people that God NEVER prescribed. With the actual SINNERS he was waaaay more kind. He ate with them, which at that time suggested social equality and He called them His Children. That the direction I get from the quote rather than what was suggested as a life without acknowledging sin. I see it as a reaction from groups that want to put a weight once again upon God's people that says do not taste, do not touch and have a control over the Divine and make it theirs rather than HIS.
That's my two cents to promote discussion.
-mark-
Mark stole some of my point but here is a bit more...
Do we need to begin with helping people recognize their sinfulness or by helping people recognize that there is something more complete and fulfilling in the lives of those following Christ? It is difficult to convince someone that they need to be saved from God's wrath if they don't believe in that God in that God or His wrath in the first place.
- It is good to see you are blogging Scott. I will add you as a link on my site. I need a good reformed perspective linked to mine anyway.! -Ryan
That is a good question Ryan. I think to recognize the more complete and fulfilling life in Christ, we first need to understand why life apart from him is not fulfilling. This is found in our depravity. I agree we can't convince someone of God's wrath if they do not believe in God. But then at the same time, you can not convince that person of his goodness, mercy, justice, love, grace and so on. Do I think the answer is bashing the idea of sin over peoples head? Of course not, but we can not shy away from the doctrine of sin simply because it is essential to the Gospel.
Three things to think about...
1. I have never made someone believe in God, opened the mind of someone, or spoken in a manner on my own that would cause someone to want to change. God is the only one who can do this. We are called to sew seeds and God will move how and when he wants.
2. Without the doctrine of sin, we have no Gospel. The Gospel message is wrapped up in the idea that we are sinful and only Jesus Chris’s death on the cross can save us from that. We are commanded to proclaim this Gospel to the ends of the earth.
3. Jesus had a oneness with people, tax collectors, sinners, women, children, etc. He also did things very purposefully, such as the woman at the well. When he approached her he made a connection but his purpose was very clear; stop finding your value in your sin and repent. He was kind, he was loving, he broke many many taboos, but he was deliberate in what he wanted to accomplish.
i think most people (not all) will admit they are "not perfect" whether or not they really think so. But I also think that most people think that they can handle it and don't need any help onthe subject. Or they think they are their own salvation.I think the larger lack is that no one (those w/o Christ) wants to admit their neediness, which I suppose would go beyond just admitting that you are "not perect" and delving into the core of your sin.
I also try to be careful when looking at a quote outside of it's context. However, I am trying to find a context in which making people aware of their lost and sinful condition would ever be unchristian.
When I read this quote I think of countless people that have attended churches and were told that all they need is Jesus to fill some God-sized void in their life. They said a prayer, they dedicated their family, they began serving in ministry, some even serving on church boards, and after a little while, after the newness wore off, they ceased serving, and they skipped attending on Sundays until they stopped attending church at all. While attending there was scant mention of repentance and fear of the LORD was taught as simply respect. There was never any mention that GOD may actually be angry with, much less, hate anyone.
Evangelifish, oops an ad hominum please forgive me, have been conditioned to believe that telling a person of their sin nature is mean or unloving. They immediately think of people being thumped over their heads with a Bible. While trying to show Christ in the way they live their lives they never get around to proclaiming their need of a Savior. Sin and repentance have become an embarassment.
Many so-called Christians don't even want to be called Christians anymore but rather "Followers of Christ". But what exactly is a follower of Christ?
John the Baptist preached "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". What were they to repent from? A low self-esteem? Jesus preached "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What were they to repent from? Too much debt? Jesus sent out the twelve and they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. Jesus, when talking about the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices and those that were killed when a tower in Saloam fell warned that unless we repent we will all likewise perish. In Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:22, Acts 17:30, Acts 26:20, people are called to repent. I think a follower of Christ is called to call people to repentance. And in case we are unsure what we are to repent from, it is sin.
But people don't want to hear that they are a sinner. What do you do then? It seems a "Follower or Christ" should proclaim that they are a sinner and need to repent. "I'm a good person", they say. But the Bible says there are none good. There are none who are righteous. People who become defensive or want to fight verbally and/or physically when they hear the name Jesus, hate Jesus. It has nothing to do with what a Christian or someone who called themselves a Christian may have said or done to them in the past. They hate GOD and His Christ. They are not seeking GOD. They are seeking justification for their rebellion. Do you think everytime Paul was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned, it was because he wasn't being loving enough? If a person is not willing to look at and recognize their own depravity then they will not be affected by telling them about a Savior named Jesus. They do not believe that they have anything to be saved from.
Jesus on many occasions rebuked the religious leaders of the day. I am familiar with many other things the owner of the quote in question has said and taught and I find his teachings to be unbiblical. Today when a religious leader espouses unbiblical or, dare I say, heretical teachings shouldn't a "Follower of Christ" do what He did and rebuke that teacher and call him to repentance?
"Jesus on many occasions rebuked the religious leaders of the day. I am familiar with many other things the owner of the quote in question has said and taught and I find his teachings to be unbiblical. Today when a religious leader espouses unbiblical or, dare I say, heretical teachings shouldn't a "Follower of Christ" do what He did and rebuke that teacher and call him to repentance?"
So,Ed, have you? And if so, how'd it go?
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