Aren't You Glad We're Not Sinners?

 May 23, 2024

Thursday

A guy once told me that he was stopped by the police for speeding in one of those "speed traps" that small towns often have. He told the policeman that he should be out catching people breaking the law. I thought he was joking but he seemed very sincere. It appears that speeding is not breaking the law.

That seems to be the way we treat sin in church too. We have things that we will condemn you for and let other things go as if they are just a part of life. Pornography, adultery, thievery and the such will cause the members to wag their heads and condemn a person forever but hatred, gossip and gluttony are just a part of church. It seems that sin is what we condemn and the other things are just being human.

Surely, there are sins with greater consequences. Pornography, adultery and thievery carry greater consequences whether or not the person is caught in them. Yet, we fail to notice the consequences of hatred, gossip and gluttony. Of the latter, you can't even bring it up. I have never seen a church torn apart by pornography, adultery or thievery but I have seen many churches destroy their witnesses for Christ and cause turmoil in the church from hatred and gossip. It seems that consequences are also ignored when considering what sin is.

Some may read this and think I am condoning some sin. No, pornography, adultery and thievery are very egregious sins. My point is that hatred, gossip and gluttony may not shock the congregation but they are just as damaging. The cause of Christ is so damaged that churches are failing to see new people enter. They become complacent with doing what they have always done and calling those outside the church sinners without addressing the sins within their midst. The Spirit is grieved over this. His presence is not known in these congregations.

The key to revival is total commitment to the Lord. It comes with complete confession and repentance of all sins. It requires doing what the Spirit says immediately. It proclaims Jesus as Lord loudly by the actions of those who experience revival. But it never condones any sin. It gives forgiveness always. It loves always. Then, those sins which we have somehow overlooked become egregious. They are uncomfortable. They irritate us and we seek our relationship with the Lord to be healed.

As long as we think we are better because we haven't done the more spectacular sins, we will never have that relationship with the Lord that initiates revival. We are calling our sins more precious than that relationship with the Lord when we fail to confess and repent of them. We are reaping the fruit of our sins. Our churches are dying for the lack of the Spirit.

Will you be one who will confess any known sin and repent of it? Will you be one who will obey whatever the Spirit says immediately? Will you be one who will proclaim Jesus as Lord publicly and with your life? Well, you can't as long as you won't.

Matthew 5:21–22 (NASB 2020) ²¹ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.