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| Sinners in the same boat |
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I was thinking about how easily we forget things. We forget where we park, if we turned the lights off before leaving the house, if we fed the pets. But we forget bigger things too.
Often, we forget the reason that we came to Christ - to be freed of the sins we have committed, to be able to share in salvation, to avoid the wrath and the punishment due.
3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Too often we go back to the same excuses that got us through our life before Christ:
Yeah, I'm not perfect, but at least I never (fill in the sin here).
I might (sin goes here) but at least I don't (choose a sin).
and the biggest one of all
Those (insert type of sinner) need to stop doing that. That's a sin and they are going to go to hell.
Now, hopefully, we finish that last one with the caveat "unless they repent and accept Jesus as their Savior".
But, I think too often as Christians that point, the point that might have been what allowed us to become Christians in the first place, is forgotten:
No sin is better or worse to commit than another.
Someone who is homosexual, or has an abortion, or kills, or rapes is working down the SAME path to hell that you or I were on for our sins - whether our sins were taking the Lord's name in vain, or adultery (actual or lusting in our hearts), or stealing office supplies ;)...we all were going to be judged and get the SAME SENTENCE.
2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.
I truly think that gets pushed aside, and it's the world we live in that makes us think that way. We want to, in some weird way, have a custom version of everything - custom ring tones, custom cars, custom response to the sins we commit.
We maybe get this from some of the symbolism of Dante's Inferno, where different sinners got different punishments in hell, or different regions to exist in. We need to remember that those images are largely pagan-based, but have crept into our collective psyche.
I bring this up because I think we lose a strong tool in our evangelizing or witnessing to the lost who may be drug users, criminals, homosexual, or other more 'apparent' sinners.
How do you think they are usually approached? Probably a little like this:
You need to repent and turn away from your sinful ways, accept Jesus and be saved from damnation.
That smacks of "I'm looking down at you, sinner!". Would it not be more effective if you could say to that person something like this:
Do you realize that you and I, and everyone on earth, is a sinner? I've lied, as I'm sure you have...I've lusted, I've used the Lord's name in vain. You've done the same, haven't you? To God, your sins are no different than those I've mentioned, and we're all guilty. No more, no less. Perfectly guilty of transgressing God's law. We're ALL in the same boat, going to hell.
That is, without Jesus' perfect sacrifice for our sins, and our repenting for committing them.
Now, I would think this would help those that aren't saved realized that perfect judgement means just that - we're all in the same boat, headed in the same direction if we live without Christ. It removes HUMAN judgement, which non-Christians like to accuse us of, by improperly quoting:
6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
It's true have no right to judge - that is God's duty. The best we can (and should) do is show the sinner that their actions go against GOD, not man, and show that ALL would be judged the same, regardless of the 'intensity' of the sin, for lack of a better term.
Just something I was thinking about...your thoughts? |
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| To add a comment to "Sinners in the same boat" |
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| July 26, 2007 |
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That is a very interesting take on sharing the gospel to the Lost. Thanks for sharing. You have made some good points to keep in mind while witnessing.
And I would like to add, I am sure with each person who witnesses for God, the
Spirrit of God uses his/ her personality and gifts to help reach the lost.Some may be like John the Baptist, others like Paul, Peter or Philip, and maybe there are a few Jonahs out there too; But we are all different and likewise gifted differently too.
As you know it is always God who causes the increast. Some of us waters and others may preach; but God causes the increase. It is God who uses our gifts (or the lack therefo) to minister the gospel to the lost. We are simply His willing intruments for service.
Leaning on God to tell us what to say in that monent, in that hour is something that we really need to learn to do.
JR |
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| July 26, 2007 |
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It has occured to me that all human beings are Sin-aholics. The details might differ, but every sin required the same payment. |
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| July 26, 2007 |
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| I forget a lot of things, but one thing I have never forgotten, and continue to thank God for, is the things (sins) I did that brought me to my knees and asking forgiveness from Him. I hope that I don't condemn others for their sins...it is not my place to judge. There is a really fine line between showing someone how they have sinned against God, and acting judgmental of them. But it is an area that we need to be careful in. Good post. |
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| July 27, 2007 |
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Identification with sinners should be something we do especially well. Unfortunately "the world" views us as seeing ourselves better than they are, so they expect us to talk down to them as soon as they see us holding our Bibles. Of course there are cases where this is true, but for the most part this is a stereotype (or even a caricature) of Christians. And one that Satan would be very pleased to see continue. The amazing thing is Jesus left the comforts of heaven in order to fully identify with us. I agree with you GIF, we should never forget our humble beginnings and thus forget how to identify with our fellow mankind. ~mike |
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| July 29, 2007 |
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Mike n Laura - I like the GIF acronym for my login. Makes it a bit easier to type. Anyways, I wanted to just post a follow-up to this, with the reason I posted it, and your post 'jogged it' from my mind. The 'world' does see Christians as the judgemental type - the whole throwing back in our face of Luke 6:37...it isn't our place to judge, of course. The main reason I think I mentioned this was, when we start thinking that certain sins get MORE or LESS punishment it gives the unsaved that slippery slope of justification of their sins, the whole "I might use God's name in vain, but I've never committed murder". "I might cheat on my taxes, but I'm no rapist!"...that gets dangerous. There is no "Hell-Lite", at least as far as the Bible says. And remembering that we're all on the same path before salvation should help us in our evangelizing to those lost. I found this image and I think it shows well the march we would all be taking without Christ's sacrifice. (It's from a Chick tract...take it for the reason I posted it, not whether or not you agree with his methods). 
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| August 01, 2007 |
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GIF,
I have to agree with you. I have been working on reaching out to others recently. I have made a committment to reach out to one person a day (at least) and just talk with them about God and how wonderful he is. This isn't usually a long conversation, but just my attempt to bring God and Jesus back into the socially accpetable culture and reach out to those who may be in need of him in thier lives. Seems like in todays culture it is almost Taboo to mention God or Jesus unless you know the person... I think that is Sad.
Good Post. Cheers and God Bless |
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| August 04, 2007 |
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can't see the image... 
love your intentions to reach out JJ, cool! |
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