| Pastoral Ponderings by Bob Smith |
| Recently, the publishers of the Oxford Junior Dictionary created a stir with the list of words they deleted in their most recent revision. Christians, in particular, are offended by the decision to delete the word sin. The Oxford Junior Dictionary no longer lists sin among its 10,000 definitions. But are the publishers of the Oxford Junior Dictionary simply following the church's lead? Step inside the doors of many a church today. Listen to the sermons and the teachings. What do you hear spoken of as the problem today? It seems there are a great many circumstances which make us unhappy. It might be a marriage, or finances. It might be health or parent related. And what is the solution? Tap into God who is eager to make us happy with His many blessings. And how do we tap into this wonderful blessings machine? Consider these seven keys listed in a bestselling Christian book concerning successful Christian living:
In which of these seven keys is the problem of sin specifically addressed? If this is about successful Christian living where is God's holiness mentioned? What about our need for forgiveness, repentance and confession? Is suffering a part of successful Christian living? According to Philippians 3:10 part of the successful Christian life is knowing the fellowship of Christ's suffering. The truth is you could find these seven keys in a number of various religions or even in the secular world. Apparently the Library of Congress agrees. | According to them, this best-selling Christian book is classified under: Self Actualization. We live in a Christian culture where sin has been marginalized by grace. This isn't to say that grace is bad. It's just misapplied. It's as if sin no longer matters to God. Grace is understood as meaning there are no consequences for sin. Any attempt today at church discipline is treated as unbiblical. If sin is addressed at all it is because it robs us of our happiness. In many churches today, sin is considered bad mainly because it keeps us from the blessings God desires for us to enjoy. Never mind what our sin does to others and least of all that sin is an offense to God. We need a definition of sin in our dictionaries; but more so, we need a definition of sin in our sermons and teachings. There are indeed great blessings which God desires for us to enjoy, but no amount of positive thinking or better habits will make that happen. Sin is a problem because it turns us from being led by the Spirit and toward gratifying the desires of the flesh. We do have marriage problems and financial problems and all sorts of other problems, but at the end of the day, we have an internal sin problem about which we ourselves can do nothing. The solution is the Cross, not only at the moment of salvation, but each moment of our lives in Christ. This is why words like repentance, confession and forgiveness should be an essential part of the successful Christian life. Sin does rob us, not of our happiness so much as our purpose. Because of sin, our focus turns inward instead of upwards and outwards. As a result, our churches have become places of self-centered “me-ism” instead of places where we worship our Redeemer and serve one another in love. Please Note: Much of the article was inspired by a book I'm reading right now called “Christless Christianity” by Michael Horton. That was where I found the example of the Christian bestseller. |
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