Great Message on Repentance

For the last while I've been writing on the important topic of repentance. Sometimes I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness crying out about the virtual loss of this crucial doctrine.  How important is it?  Quite simply there is no true following of Christ without it.  Indeed I think there is no true conversion unless the one who is trusting in Christ also manifests repentance.

With the dearth of this teaching everywhere, imagine my surprise  to hear a guest speaker at my local church bring a message on precisely this theme.  David Loney is an active part of Crossings Community Church in Acton and he spoke last Sunday.  I would very much like you to hear this sermon. It is available here.

Be blessed, challenged and grow in the things that shall last forever.

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6 Reasons Why Repentance is Missing Today

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.

Repentance Has Gone Missing

Just a few days ago a friend of mine related a story about his encounter with the leadership of his church.   Rob (not his real name) had expressed concern with the problem of “Christians” among the fellowship who were cohabiting without benefit of marriage. Rob wanted the leaders to take some kind of action. Specifically he wanted them to lovingly speak the truth of this sin and its dangers to these young couples. He was shocked beyond belief by the leaders’ response. They indicated they were not interested in preaching against sin. But rather they were all about preaching Jesus, and wanted to just preach the gospel and not be judgmental in anyway.  

I suspect, sadly, that this attitude is prevalent in thousands of churches in our day. And I am not speaking solely of the mainline (sidelined and slipping) churches, but of all Christian churches in general.  

Just how important is the teaching or repentance in the scripture? First, let’s note that Jesus began his ministry with the call to repentance. The apostolic preaching in the book of Acts frequently includes the call to repent. The church down through the centuries has carefully guarded the truth that repentance is part of the ministry of preaching the good news of Jesus.  J. Edwin Orr insisted that, “repentance is the first word of the gospel.” Martin Luther strongly called Christians to repent as part of their daily walk with God.  General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, warned that one of the chief dangers of the twentieth century would be the offering of forgiveness without repentance.

I lament that we live in a time when we see much decline in the churches. I think that one of the clear reasons for this decline is the loss of this very basic teaching of repentance. On every hand we see a growing and blatant apostasy in many mainline churches.  But we need to see there is another apostasy at work, quieter perhaps, but no less dangerous.  Far too many Christians in the conservative churches, yes even some Evangelicals, are neglecting, and abandoning certain basic truths of scripture. 

For the next week or so this blog will explore, just how this doctrine has been lost and how it can be recovered. And yes, it can be recovered and the church can be made strong again. The church can and will find herself, reforming her own reformation by God’s help and leading.  May God help us all to move in that direction. And soon, please God.