Friday, September 30, 2005
How Do We Talk About Sin?
Jollyblogger is wondering if, when we do evangelism, instead of talking about original sin, we should be talking about original righteousness.
But I think there is a missing piece of the puzzle. In addition to this being the "I'm OK" age, this is the age of right now! Yet, we, as Christians live in the "already, not yet." In addition to conviction of sin, immediate benefit needs to be apparent. That apparent benefit is largely missing because we as Christians and the church do not largely show it. It's not something people need to be told, it is something they need to witness.
David's idea here is a good one, but for genuine conversion to result, it must be accompanied by we as individuals and the church in general getting much better at looking like Christians. We have to come much closer to realizing that original righteousness than we currently do.
The Calvinists and the evangelism program writers are all correct - man is a sinner, he is totally depraved, he is racially corrupt, he is unable to believe savingly on Christ apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.I think David may be on to something here, at least up to a point. Consider his conclusion
But I suggest that, in order to convey the sinfulness of sin, and the corruption of man, the best place to start is not talking about original sin, but in talking about original righteousness.
Of course we do live in a time where the New Age movement portrays man as a god, and even in the church there are many who want to ignore that inconvenient little thing called sin. So, I am not saying we downplay sin. I am only saying that we live at a time when most don't understand what it is that makes sin so sinful. By discussing sin or the fall against the backdrop of righteousness and creation, the sinfulness of sin becomes more apparent, and thus the need for a redeemer becomes all the more apparent.The idea here, at least as I understand it, is in this "I'm OK" age to give people a comparison against which they can judge that they are not so OK. After all, the point of this step in the evangelism process is not to help them build a theological understanding, but to convict them of sin so that they can come to God in he proper posture.
But I think there is a missing piece of the puzzle. In addition to this being the "I'm OK" age, this is the age of right now! Yet, we, as Christians live in the "already, not yet." In addition to conviction of sin, immediate benefit needs to be apparent. That apparent benefit is largely missing because we as Christians and the church do not largely show it. It's not something people need to be told, it is something they need to witness.
David's idea here is a good one, but for genuine conversion to result, it must be accompanied by we as individuals and the church in general getting much better at looking like Christians. We have to come much closer to realizing that original righteousness than we currently do.
