As genuinely born again believers in Jesus Christ, we
are often perceived by our culture and the world at large as being rigidly
fixed in our outlook which strongly suggests to them that we are close-minded
rather than principle-minded because our worldview has remained virtually
unchanged. I would argue that it is just the opposite; we are principle-minded
based on the absolutely infallible, eternal truth of the Scriptures.Admitting
the obvious, we are wearing different apparel than our counterparts in the
first century A.D., riding in different wagons with lots of horsepower, and
occasionally taking to the air like birds! There is, however, something we still
have in common with our ancient fellow believers of a shared faith – a sinful
heart while we are on this side of eternity. It is what makes the Bible so relevant; after all the time that has transpired between Adam and today, we still have the same heart that the first Adam had after the Fall! So, Scripture is very relatable. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise! Yes, it is God’s Self-revelation, but it is also is a book about the heart of man and the need for redemption from the penalty of sin, and what Yahweh did to provide a way to save man from self-destruction.
From the first Adam until now, sin has plagued every aspect of people’s
lives and the world around them, including the reason for death, decay, and
destruction, and even the corruption of their intellect, emotions, and will
(cf. Rom 12:2). All of creation has been negatively impacted by sin’s bondage
to decay (cf. Rom 8:20-22). Sin is still the leading cause of death in human
history (cf. Rom 5:12). Sin has separated us all from God, and we live under
the condemnation of the penalty of sin, eternal separation from God forever, unless
we experience God’s offer of salvation by receiving His Son Jesus Christ into
our heart (cf. Rom 10:9, 10, 13)!
As believers, if
we do not experience the rapture in our lifetime, we will die like all who went
before us, except for two very rare and individual exceptions: Enoch (Gn
5:23-24) and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11). I’m looking forward to the corporate exception
of not experiencing physical death (cf. Jn 14:3; 1 Cor 15:51-52; 1 Thes 4:16-17;
1 Jn 3:2-3)! I always liked that option, you?
The
world still does not take too kindly to us perpetuating the truth that we are
not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. Now, they are greatly
offended by that word, “sin” and refuse for it to even be a part of their
vocabulary. So, as you might imagine, I become righteously indignant when
self-proclaimed “men of God” stand behind the pulpit and avoid the word “sin”
altogether in their messages from “God,” for the purpose of being politically correct. There is another very practical reason for avoiding it; it can have a negative impact on giving!
The
Word of God is the only authoritative Book on the subject of sin even though the
world continues to reject its existence, as well as God, for that matter. Those
who believe that the Bible is the supreme and final authority in all matters of
faith and practice know that sin is as real and self-evident today as when Adam
violated the one and only prohibition in the Garden of Eden in his day (Rom
5:12) that certainly introduced a world of hurt to the world!
The
world acknowledges there is a dark side of man that is enigmatic and inexplicable
which is kind of ironic when you think about it (cf. Jn 3:19). They will talk
in terms of good and evil but avoid that vexing word called sin. If they should
merely mention the term, they fear finding themselves falling into the slipstream
of “religion” by using that controversial term “sin.” They want to stay on the
bank and avoid that question that would be generated from using that specific terminology,
“Are you acknowledging the existence of sin?”
The
Creator God provided a remedy for sin (Jn 3:16; 2 Cor 5:21; Rom 5:8)! So, what
is the point of that great sacrifice if sin does not exist? What is the need of
preaching the Gospel around the world if sin does not exist as purported by the
world?
There
are false preachers and teachers who avoid words like “sin” because they reason
that there is enough negativity in the world that people want or need to hear
about a message of hope and encouragement in order to avoid a messaging that
makes one feel bad about themselves, burdened down with guilt, and so forth. It
sounds altruistic, yes, but it is a real revenue generator. There’s the agenda!
I teach about sin; I have preached about sin, but you don’t have to bludgeon
people with sin. Conviction is the Holy Spirit’s job; my job is to present the
truth in a loving manner (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-2).
This
avoiding the word sin in a preacher’s messages is without a doubt a tickling of
the ears approach to ministry! People quickly flock to this kind of stuff, “Don’t
tell me the truth; you just make me feel better about myself.” They crave a
shot of spiritual adrenaline that actually provides no healing properties
beyond the spiritual superficiality of feeling good at the moment. Then they walk
out the church doors and enter a not-so-good reality.
The
truth remains that there has been a spiritual war raging ever since the fall of
man in the Garden; it’s not on the other side of the world in some third world
country; this conflict is everywhere, happening all the time. And don’t you
think it rather odd that a preacher would intentionally avoid negative
terminology (sin, for example) to make people feel good about themselves in the
midst of spiritual warfare? Yes, I like a pep talk once in a while just like
anybody else, but not at the expense of truth. I want for you to consider the
oddity of this stark illustration.
Suppose
that you are living in a time of conflict. You cannot flee to any part of the
world without death, decay, and destruction being everywhere. In fact, all you
have known in your life and in the life of your kids is war. Your family cannot
even point to a time of peace since you being born! So, you go to some local
church and look for answers, and you have already made up your mind that even if
you fail to find any answers or solutions, you can at least enjoy a temporary moment of relief
before reengaging with a world at war with itself.
So, this “man of God” (a positive mental attitude preacher) gets up behind the pulpit and begins to preach, “God loves you, and He wants for you to be at peace and prosper [war is raging everywhere]. He wants for your faith to be strong and vibrant so that He can bless you [your home is destroyed, you have no job, your family is hungry and living in a lean-to]. God knows that you are good and that you want to do good even when the whole world is not so good.
He
knows your thinking; He knows your heart; He knows you are a good man or woman.
His love reaches out to you, but He also desires for you to reach out to Him in
faith and trusting in Him regardless of the challenges, and giving what you can
to the ministry so that God can use us to send out a message of hope to all
who love Him. There is a ray of light in this dark world, and from your
goodness and faithfulness will help us to reach others in darkness by providing
a ray of light for them, too!”
Granted,
this scenario is a bit austere of an illustration. However,
no preacher in his right mind would preach that way unless he was totally
oblivious to the world around him! But we are currently engaged in great spiritual
warfare and have been for quite some time now since the first Adam, and it will
continue to rage on taking casualties after casualties until Yahweh finally ends
the work of Satan and his followers once for all in playing havoc on the world.
In the meantime, we have preachers that are either fear-mongering preachers [always
negative], PMA preachers (always positive), or OBF preachers (prosperity comes only
by faith). Thankfully, there is another kind of preacher, one preaching
the whole truth from Genesis to Revelation [the LXVI], building up the saints
to be like Christ, and reaching people for Christ with the full Gospel message!
When
we read about broad
is the way that leads to destruction (Mt 7:13-14), we can only imagine the number
of accumulated deaths, misery, and destruction brought to the world because of sin?
Adam and Eve got the ball rolling, and it is still rolling. How do we not talk
about sin? Why would we avoid talking about that which is presently destroying
our planet and the vast majority of its inhabitants? It is not climate change
that’s doing it; it is sin!
As
followers of Jesus Christ, His Word is our handbook on living, and it talks a lot about sin. The world, on the other hand, takes exception to that and deems the Bible as a work of man, irrelevant, obsolete, a fossilized relic embedded in the strata of the dark
ages. If the false preachers and teachers didn’t horribly mangle the truth of Scripture
and itchy ears leaning into what they had to say, it would be laughable indeed,
but their twisting of the texts is misleading and embraced by more than a few! Not only that, the messaging from these false teachers and preachers is menacing to those who rightly interpret the Scriptures.
The
world thinks that born again believers are paranoid and delusional, fearing
some possible discovery that proves Christianity to be a myth, like the concept of sin! That will
never happen. So, what is your pick of the litter?
(1)
Do you want to hear the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
(2)
Do you want to hear the half-truth and nothing but the half-truth?
(3)
Do you want to hear the lie and nothing but the lie?
To
even know the difference, you have to be born again (cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor
4:4). I know I am being judgmental. You know you must be doing something right
when you tell the truth according to the Scriptures and people accuse you of
being self-righteous and judgmental; they don’t care what verses you quote
because they do not recognize the authority of the Scriptures like born again believers do. It
comes with the territory; I suppose (cf. 2 Tim 3:12).
If you do not have the Holy Spirit living within your heart, you are a non-believer and spiritually unable to tell the difference between spiritual truth and a spiritual lie. For us who are true believers, the answer is obviously #1. Hopefully, you are not part of the other two options because there are literally billions who are because they have rejected the authority of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16; cf. Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12)! So, can you make the call if someone asks of you, “Is it sin?” <><
(2
Pet 2:1) But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even
denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction.
(2 Pet 2:2) And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
