Why Does it Matter?

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Leaving a local church service one evening, I was trying to brush aside my disdain of the closing statement I had just heard: “Every night I ask God to forgive me….”

Great. Another speaker denying that God has already forgiven the whole world. Another speaker yet ignoring Paul’s letters to the Saints at Corinth stating that God was in Christ, reconciling the WHOLE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NOT counting their sins against them. (That’s I Corinthians 5:19 if you want to read it for yourself.) I voiced my disdain to my riding partner.

We had both been visiting a few churches here there and yonder, seeing if we might be interested in attending a brick and mortar congregation. Having different reasons for doing so, we both rode together on various occasions.

In exasperation, she asked me, “What does it matter? He’s not teaching anything bad. You think too much”. I understood her point. It’s not like he was encouraging people to go live a life of sin. He had been encouraging the listeners to behave themselves. That’s not a bad thing, is it?? As we continued our ride home, I was reminded of another conversation years ago from a chat friend. Talking of pulling out of local congregations because of the muddying-up-the-gospel-message, my friend told me, “If you find the perfect church, don’t go to it–you’ll mess it up!” Jokingly being serious, I understood his point. No church is going to be perfect; not the preacher, not the congregation, and definitely not the doctrine.

So, does it matter? Yes it does.

Can you imagine someone loosing the love of their life and wondering if God was punishing them for some “unconfessed sin in their life”? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Can you imagine a parent having to bury their young child and wondering if God is “teaching them a lesson”? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Can you imagine a woman having miscarriage after miscarriage, and thinking God must not think her fit to be a mom? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Along with asking forgiveness, there’s the teaching of repercussion if we DON’T ask forgiveness. God will punish us. God will with hold His blessings. God will have to dig up Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize to them.

So, to make it sound palatable, we preach, ‘Try your best, and let God do the rest”. So we live our life trying to gut it out for God, hoping He grades on a curve, and make sure… make DOUBLE sure you ask for His forgiveness! If you die without doing so, you may very well backslide into hell.  Best be gutting it out for God so that we don’t wind up in hell. “If we’re in the battle for the Lord and the right, keep on the Firing Line…He will only use a servant He can trust… Keep on the Firing Line!” That’s some intense erroneous teaching.

Oh no, one might say. Yes, we ask God to forgive us, but if we forget a sin, or have a sin we don’t know about (really???) Grace covers those. We’ll still go to heaven. We might lose a reward or two, but our lives will be saved. (A variation of the I Corinthians 3:12 wood, hay and stubble verse)

So now, we’re working, gutting it out for God to get more rewards? That’s our primary goal is to get as many shiny rocks in our shiny hat? That’s it? “Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown, when at evening the sun goeth down? When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest, will there be any stars in my crown?”. Misguided reasoning.

I implore you, reader. Stop asking God to do what He’s already done. You are forgiven. You can accept it or not, but make no mistake. God has already forgiven you. What’d He do with it? Every bit of forgiveness you’re ever going to get resides in the person of Christ Jesus. If you accept Jesus, you get the forgiveness–ALL the forgiveness that God is ever going to dispense. Paul told the folks at Corinth that God was NOT holding ANYONE’s sins against them. Not just the “nice” people. Not just the religious people, and not just the Jews. God was in Christ, reconciling the WHOLE WORLD to Himself, NOT counting men’s sins against them! WHY is this so hard to believe? (Check out 2 Corinthians 5) God can create the entire universe with a spoken word, raise Lazarus from the dead, part the Red Sea, but He’s not capable of forgiving us once and for all?? Seriously?

Maybe we feel that God COULD do that, but it’s not within His character? After all, He had entire civilizations wiped out from existence, and, since our sins will be displayed on that great movie projector in the sky (a misunderstanding of Luke, Ephesians… Corinthians..) so it would be reasonable, we think, for this Ogre of a God to make us dance like puppets in order to get His forgiveness. Of course, His “grace” is to have us “get more forgiveness” so as to have those sin parts edited out of our life’s movie (crazy, I know, but yes, that IS taught)

There is a fear associated with the unknown–that teaching total forgiveness is a license to sin. That’d be understandable–were we to stop at the “you’re forgiven” part. When we keep going, it makes sense.

God loves you. (Cue the song, “Jesus loves me, this I know!”) Do we really know what that means? Do we simply picture a laughing Jesus hugging a small child? It’s so much more than that.  Love is an action. When we were dead in our sins, Christ died for us. At just the right time, God sent His son to be born of a virgin.  So, instead of gutting it out for God, why not simply rest in Jesus, and let Him live out Love through us. We get the privilege to come along for the journey. All of Jesus using all of me. No sweat.

We talk about a judgmental God, yet, Jesus ate with sinners. He didn’t fuss at Mary Magdalene for breaking expensive perfume on his feet. He didn’t fuss at Zacchaeus for being a crooked tax collector.  What about Judas Iscariot? Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer, yet Jesus still fed him. Washed his feet. In spite of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus didn’t hate him. He simply loved all of them. He does the same for us, in spite of what some doctrines teach. Could it be that we have the wrong picture painted of God? How do we reconcile all of those “For I am a jealous God” with the “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…” verses?

Be content, knowing that no matter what circumstances life throws your way, God loves you and desires a relationship with you. Knowing full good and well your life won’t be free from sorrow and pain, but also knowing that, in spite of these horrific times, God will see you through. Try Him and see.

Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Just to take Him at His word! Just to take Him at His word! Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”