I know that I’m not the only one who has
noticed the teaching of repentance is largely missing in our churches
today. Since our evangelical ancestors
made much of it in their preaching and teaching, we do well to ask ourselves
why there is so little focus on it in our time.
For starters I am offering the following
six reasons that seek to explain its demise in Christian circles today. My plan
is simply to lay out these points in a somewhat stark format and then expand on
them in the days to come.
1.
I believe there is widespread ignorance of what
the term actually means. This should not surprise us since doctrinal teaching
in the churches has been de-emphasized over a period of many decades
2.
I think that some teachers and preachers have
concluded that repentance is opposed to grace.
And since grace for them is the primary teaching of the Bible, they are loathe
to muddy the waters by also speaking of repentance.
3.
In order for repentance to make sense as a
teaching the pastor has to be willing to treat the wider issue of what constitutes
sin. And in an age of rampant ethical relativism the whole concept of sin
itself is largely rejected by the broader culture.
4.
The preaching of repentance smacks of
judgmentalism. And our society hates
with a passion anybody who dares to pass judgment on its actions. Likewise, the preacher bristles at the mere
idea that he might be perceived as passing judgment on anybody.
5.
The preaching of repentance does not fit in with
the seeker sensitive mentality found in many churches today. In
such churches the leaders design everything to appeal to newcomers so they will
return.
6.
To boldly preach repentance means taking a stand
against popular sins that are culturally accepted and many leaders simply do
not have the stomach to confront people in the pew, or the people who make up our society.
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