Preaching Against Sin
I believe what the Bible says about all of us. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) I also believe that "the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23a) And that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." (Romans 6:23b).
From time to time one of our congregants will ask me why I don't preach on a particular topic such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce etc. My response is simple. Anytime you focus on a particular category of sin as described in the Bible, you create an environment of judgmentalism. People love to pick their pet sins. They often fail to understand that all sin is equal in God's eyes. My sin may not be your sin, but all sin keeps us from having fellowship with God.
It is true that there may be sins that have greater ramifications socially. If I divorce my wife, it affects her, me, our children, our friends, my credibility as a minister etc. If I steal something, unless I get caught, it affects few people. If a young woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, it affects her future for at least 18-20 years. But in God's sight all of these sins are equal.
So I preach and teach against sin in general. Most of us don't have to be reminded about our sins. If we spend any time at all in reading Scripture our sins are glaringly laid out before us. I prefer instead to let the Bible speak to our specific sins while reminding my audience that it's not as much about the sin as much as it is about God's willingness to forgive us and equip us to overcome sin.
That's the message of hope in the Gospel, not that we are lost, which we are, but that God sent his Son to find us and reconcile us to himself. Sin is real. It is deadly, It separates us from God. It makes a mess out of our lives. Redemption through the blood of Christ is available. Eternal life can be yours and so can abundant life.
From time to time one of our congregants will ask me why I don't preach on a particular topic such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce etc. My response is simple. Anytime you focus on a particular category of sin as described in the Bible, you create an environment of judgmentalism. People love to pick their pet sins. They often fail to understand that all sin is equal in God's eyes. My sin may not be your sin, but all sin keeps us from having fellowship with God.
It is true that there may be sins that have greater ramifications socially. If I divorce my wife, it affects her, me, our children, our friends, my credibility as a minister etc. If I steal something, unless I get caught, it affects few people. If a young woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, it affects her future for at least 18-20 years. But in God's sight all of these sins are equal.
So I preach and teach against sin in general. Most of us don't have to be reminded about our sins. If we spend any time at all in reading Scripture our sins are glaringly laid out before us. I prefer instead to let the Bible speak to our specific sins while reminding my audience that it's not as much about the sin as much as it is about God's willingness to forgive us and equip us to overcome sin.
That's the message of hope in the Gospel, not that we are lost, which we are, but that God sent his Son to find us and reconcile us to himself. Sin is real. It is deadly, It separates us from God. It makes a mess out of our lives. Redemption through the blood of Christ is available. Eternal life can be yours and so can abundant life.
posted by jawbone at
11:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home