A friend of mine recently met with his Pastor about a couple of issues that he was dealing with in his life. He wanted to have an honest dialogue with a person in his life that he knew he could trust; a person who, he thought, would pour out wisdom to somebody who happened to be really down in the dumps. As he poured out his heart to his Pastor, do you know what his Pastor's response was? His Pastor told him that he probably 'ought not talk to others about this particular sin' because, as his Pastor put it, 'there is such a stigma attached to that sin, that people won't forgive....even God's people won't forgive'. I cannot imagine how my friend must have felt as he left his Pastor's office that day. Obviously he was crushed and even embarrassed, but the overwhelming feeling he had that day was hopelessness. He was sure that if God's people couldn't forgive him, God surely wouldn't either. All he so desperately wanted was for this person, who happened to be his Pastor, to give him some godly advice and wisdom. Instead, what he got was a healthy dose of condemnation.
I hear stories like this all the time. It breaks my heart that God's people can be so cruel and mean-spirited. What gives any of us, as Christ-followers, any right to pick and choose what sins are forgivable and which aren't?
Sometimes, I am almost positive that Christians have forgotten the beautiful, glorious, life-changing truth that Jesus HAS overcome the world. And not just SOME of it; ALL of it. Christianity is not an exclusive club that is only open for certain people. I am so sick of a small but vocal minority of Christians spouting off their divisive words of anger, hate, and intolerance to those whom they disagree.
Do they honestly think that those whom they are trying to reach will react kindly to them? Or could it be that hatred will only breed more hatred?
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." Indeed, we are to bless and not curse; we are to do good to those who treat us badly; we are to pray for those who call us enemy. Doesn't God command that we deal with our enemies completely different than the way they deal with us? So then why do so many of the hurting, lost, and broken feel so utterly oppressed by those who claim to proclaim the Word of God?
If you were told -- like my friend was -- that your sin, whatever it may be, was unforgivable, would that make you want to repent and accept Christ? I highly doubt it.
It absolutely boggles my mind that [some] Christians have the audacity to determine what sins God will or will not forgive.
Last I checked, Jesus didn't leave a list of unforgivable sins as He died on the Cross.
Shame on us that we think we can make our own.
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7 comments:
Wow....that's terrible. :(
Love the picture. LOL. I feel sad for people like that. While it's good to have a healthy dose of the fear of God, we can't forget that he loved us, and DIED for us....obviously that was not only for "acceptable" sins.
Speaking of, the book "Acceptable Sins" (I think that's the name) by Jerry Bridges is a WONDERFUL book.
My adult ADD is terrible. Sorry for the book. :)
Amen, brother. Amen
Sounds like the pastor was being careful for your friend or maybe not but I believe his advice to be sound. Struggling people coming out of unmentionable sin, ie. Apostle Paul, don't need their faith shipwrecked by so-called christians or prejudiced christians. Better to be mentored by one who is faithful in matters of the heart and build a strong foundation in Christ. Then his or her's skin will be tough when they might want to open up to more people.
Grace that is greater than all our sin. How quickly we forget to be grace to others. How would we accept a pedophile or child murderer in our midst that has repented?
I have read the pastor's comment anew and he said there is a stigma....PEOPLE would not forgive.
A case could be made that the pastor was protecting this fragile sheep.
The stigma is true.
But, the forgiveness statement is a reflection on people, not a Biblical fact.
ALL sins are forgiveable except one.
Matthew 12:31-32 (New American Standard Bible)
31"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
32"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
But the sin of blaspemy of the Holy Spirit does not appear to be in discussion with the pastor.
I have left 6 separate churches when members claimed, in effect "That's MY seat". I was sitting in their preferred spot.
They are usually the long term "controller" type, who know nothing of grace, and everything of law.
Out of a house church, a man came to me and said he wanted to talk alone. We did. He picked me up in his vehicle and we headed on the interstate to a restaurant.
He handed me his wallet and said "Open it up".
I read his "Prison Card" at one of the most brutal prisons in the land.
"What did you do?"
"I killed somebody."
In all truth, it dawned on me I was driving down the highway, alone, nobody knew, and I just found out a killing took place by the driver. It gave me pause for thought.
"Why did you murder?"
"I didn't mean to...
I was robbing a store for cash, and he went for a gun. I was only 16 and panicked. I shot him."
"You were in jail as a teen.....how did you ever survive?"
[It was a difficult answer to hear].
"Why are you telling ME about this and NOW?"
"I've been thinking. I want to tell the whole church. I wanted to know what you thought first."
~~~What would YOU say?~~~
"Have you told anyone else?"
"Only the pastor."
[This man was married long term; his wife knew too].
"What'd the pastor say?"
"He said it would be wrong.
That's why I wanna know what you say."
"You killed a man. You went to prison as a youth. You survived horrible scenes. You paid your sentence for your crime.
You found a partner for life after jail. You run a respectable business. By any measure, you are good for this community.
You are accepted in church.
People can accept many, many things. But I am not so sure people could sit in church next to someone who murdered. They would distance from you. They would be scared. Why do you wanna tell them now?"
"I just thought I should.
Do you?"
"I do not think you need forgiven by the people at church. I think you need forgiven by God and the family of the man you killed. Did the family forgive you?"
"I think so."
"Did God forgive you?"
"I don't know."
"Let's ask Him together, now."
He never told the church audience. He is sure God forgave him (finally). I mean, what is a Cross for, afterall?
He continues to lead a life of peace and grace.
He could be sitting next to you Sunday.
I have often thanked God for placing me in a spot to lessen the load on a believer's shoulder, to pray for him and his family since. It was a humbling experience.
Go visit a jail and talk to the prisoners.
Pray for Susan Smith, who drove her children into a lake and let them die. She is in jail, and God may say to you...'you were the only one to pray for her after that day and I listened to you'.
Pray for Osama Bin Laden.
I doubt God has given up on him, given His propensity to seek and save the lost.
In this season of Advent, we prepare for the light to come. Be the light for those in darkness.
God does not need to be packaged and sold. He needs to be lived within his children and be seen as a difference in their lives...to those who refuse to know Him.
Christians confuse sin and sinner. They fear accepting the latter condones the former.
This is one of satan's favorite lies. Don't be tripped up by a lie.
Be an Ambassador from Heaven....like we all were shown 2000 years ago.
I'd like to expand on that sometime.
What?!!!I can't even believe someone would say that!If that were true then Jesus wasted his time.It's just unfathomable to me that people actually think God would not forgive them no matter what the sin was.
Barb,
I am not sure which people you mean.
Here is what the pastor said:
"His Pastor told him that he probably 'ought not talk to others about this particular sin' because, as his Pastor put it, 'there is such a stigma attached to that sin, that people won't forgive....even God's people won't forgive'. "
There is nothing in there about God forgiving.
God will forgive.
The pastor lost an opportunity to clarify that to the questioner.
But when the pastor utters 'people won't forgive.....even God's people won't forgive'...
the pastor is stating a truism.
Indeed, that is why the body of Christ's church has denominations.
They have the same God, but believe the other denominations (other than them) are in blasphemy.
Fortunately, God does not believe that. He is into Grace, not condemnation.
But the pastor's observation that even God's people won't forgive is spot on.
I have watched leadership leave after sexual impropriety in the church, for they know God forgives, God's people do not.
I have listened to women with prior abortions (who have now had their eyes opened to what occurred) utter words of dread and fear that their fellow sheep will find out.
The stone of rejection is their biggest fear, so they are silent and healing fails.
It is a problem the church is grappling with now.
Forgiveness by God is grasped. Implementation of the same forgiveness is not grasped.
Sometimes, bloggers even delete comments that even discuss it, so I was pleasantly surprised at the spiritual maturity
of this blogger site.
He does not delete truth simply because it is said.
Nor mistruth.
He simply holds it up to the light of public inspection and commentary anew....until more eyes are opened to truth.
Many bloggers simply delete a comment and the issue no longer exists...
for them.
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