I've been a little quiet on the blog lately - I've been a little busy. This doesn't mean things haven't Crossed my life, it just means I haven't had much time to process the things around me and find time to actually write about them.
In one of the books I've been reading lately ('Confession and Forgiveness: Professing Faith as Ambassadors of Reconciliation' by Ted Kober), I came across the above quote: "I know I'm a sinner, but I haven't done anything wrong!". I almost laughed out loud when I read this! (By the way, it was spoken by a pastor!) Yet in another sense, it's deadly serious. How many Christians think they've done nothing wrong?
Many times I've heard one of two reactions to sermons where I sought to expose people's sin. One is "I wish so-and-so were hear to hear that!" To this I often wonder (and sometimes say), "But you were here. What did it say to you?" Don't we often want to point the finger at others but hate it when the finger points at us! This is more comfortable - just brush it aside and deflect the accusation to someone else.
This leads me to the second reaction: people think I'm picking on them when I expose their sin. Well, I admit I have felt moved to mention something in the sermon at times targeting a specific person, but most of the times I did this, they weren't at worship that day (or weren't listening at the time!). Instead someone else who I didn't even consider to be affected by this particular sin felt as if I picked on them. If anyone was picking on them, it was the Holy Spirit!
At times people have said to me I talk about sin too much. They argue it's off-putting to newcomers. They also argue "We all know we're sinners - you don't have to go on and on about it!" Hmmm, don't you think this is so much like the above quote?
Exposing our sin is uncomfortable. The Spirit probes through our conscience and jabs at our guilt, our shame and our brokenness. Yet like a doctor's scalpel, we need to get rid of the infection before we can experience true healing.
Sin breaks our relationships - our relationships with our families and friends, our work mates, and our sporting mates. Sin breaks the view of ourselves, leading to struggling self-worth. Sin breaks our relationship with God.
The reason sin needs to be exposed is so that the gospel will do it's saving effect. If we don't think we need a Saviour from our sin, what on earth do we need Jesus for? Jesus didn't come to be a miracle vending machine, but in order to save us from our sin.
Perhaps we mouth the words "I am a sinner" all too easily without realising the implications. Quite simply I have done wrong in God's sight. Full stop. No excuses. No attempts at self-justification. It is my own fault.
I go to worship, not always because I enjoy it (or even because I'm paid to), but because I need it. I am a sinner and I need a Saviour to save me from myself and my sin. Since I can't fix myself, I need God to come down and serve me. I need him to expose the sickness of my sin, my spiritual thirst, and my hunger for peace. I need him to announce his forgiveness so my joy and peace is restored.
Yes, I know I'm a sinner. I also know I've done plenty wrong. It takes effort for me to see that in myself and specify my sin, yet I can also lay those specific sins at the foot of the cross and receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
I am a sinner. Jesus is my Saviour.
