Sinners

We often speak of sinners as those that are lost, but in fact we are all sinners! The Scripture says, “no man is righteous no not one!” We, as spirits inhabiting a body of flesh, are all sinners and I may be the worst of all.

The difference between the saved sinner and the lost sinner is my sins convict my heart and cause me shame before my Lord Jesus, and the lost know nothing else but a life of sin.

Sadly, many Christians act as though they are far beyond the ability to sin when speaking or interacting with the lost. Many come across as if they had never sinned and that the lost does nothing but sin. This in itself is sin.

I recently saw a cartoon drawing of a man standing at the gate of Heaven.  As Saint Peter greeted him the caption read, “Yes, you have been saved. You just forgot not to be a jerk about it.”  Through our poor behavior we expose our lack of understanding in the Word.

These types of so-called Christians have earned the rest of us names like “Holy Rollers”, “Bible thumpers”, “self-righteous”, and “sanctimonious jerks”. This causes it to be very hard to spread the Gospel and witness to lost folks.

With some of them, as soon as you mention Jesus, the church, or salvation, it’s like having a giant iron door slammed in your face. Saddest of all is the fact that many of those that have portrayed themselves to be far above everyone else have never known the Lord themselves.

They did nothing more than repeat a prayer spoken by a preacher or evangelist and believed they were saved. They were not drawn by the Spirit of God. This mistaken identity breeds contempt in others and hinders the spreading of the Gospel.

I have touched on this in the past and I’m going to address it again. Just repeating the words of a preacher or an evangelist in a prayer of salvation, makes a person no more a Christian than reading the words of Longfellow aloud makes you a poet, or reciting a recipe makes one a chef.

A prayer offered from the heart in repentance brings salvation. A person must come to the understanding that Jesus Christ is the only possible way a sinner such as themselves can be redeemed. Many evangelists, and even preachers, will ask the audience to repeat a prayer of salvation and then ask for a show of hands of those that spoke the prayer and then count them all as salvations.

This is only fooling themselves. I have heard and seen evangelists return from a trip and say things like they were out winning souls and then give a number of how many came to know Christ as their Savior. Honestly, there is only one way to know if someone is saved.

The Scripture says you will know them by their fruit! I appreciate those who say there was a certain number of proclamations of faith instead of there were so many saved.

The behavior I have described is a type of theft. Have you ever heard this preached, “Will a man rob God?” The answer is yes and it has nothing to do with money! God has no need for money. God said He will provide. What happens is the actions I’ve been speaking of rob God of His children and closes the ears of those that are lost.

This spiritual affliction I have been speaking of is not limited to actions outside the Church! The depressing truth is this has become prevalent within many churches in the US and Europe.

Just as the Scripture spoke of the Pharisees, our gatherings have been filled with many who have forgotten that they themselves are and have always been sinners.

The Scripture tells us that we must pluck the log from our own eye before we worry about the splinter in the eye of our neighbor! I was recently speaking to a pastor and some missionaries and I stated that the reason our churches are not full and there are few, if any, new members coming in is because the church has no appeal any longer—at least far too many are this way.

Walk into many places of worship and you are great with the atmosphere of a funeral home instead of a place of corporate worship. Many of our churches are occupied with elderly folks that, instead of being the experienced, wise, and saintly advisers, are grumpily set in their ways fighting change and many don’t even want new members or a vibrant youth program.

About a month ago, a pastor told me of a deacon in the church who came to him and said there were some in the church that didn’t want a bunch of new members.

They were Does that seem like a Godly attitude? Several months ago I was made aware by a member of a church in the southwest that had actually in their minds taken possession of their members.

This church had a lacking youth program and a new youth ministry had been founded in the town. Many of the youth began to attend the new youth ministry and some older, established members of this prominent community church stated this new youth ministry was stealing their kids away.

They obviously had no concern for the youth, but only for attendance numbers. “Will a man rob God?” There is more than one way for a man to rob God. If we as Christians do not completely focus on what we have been directed by our Lord to do, then quite possibly we are the worst of all sinners in the eyes of the Lord.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

This is what we have been directed to do by our Lord Jesus. This is a red letter Scripture spoken by the Son of God! We cannot accomplish this task by having repulsive hearts or falsely believing that we have any ownership in or of the church we attend!

The Church belongs to Christ Jesus—not to any or all of its members!!!  Matthew 16:13-19 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The Church is the body of Christ. It is the members not the building. It belongs to no man, but only to the Lord Himself!

I have only scratched the surface of problems that are common in those that profess to be followers of Christ.

So what is the cause? First, I would say spiritually dead hearts and a gross lack of reverence. From my research, I have come to the conclusion that the so-called Charismatic movement is to blame for much.

Yes, it did initially bring many into churches around the world but it ultimately did more damage than good. Charismatic activities robbed God of the reverence  He deserves.

The Church no longer was a hallowed place but became more a social gathering. Things became lax and even disrespectful in many cases. Since this behavior lasted several decades, it became tradition and those traditions continue today in many places.

Let me give an example. When I was a child and we went to church, the boys wore suits and ties, the girls wore nice dresses and shoes, the women wore nice dresses and the men wore suits and ties.

Both of my grandmothers wore a scarf draped around their necks and when they prayed—no matter if they were at the altar or in the pew—they covered their heads in accordance with the Word.

What do we see in church today? I asked the question about a year ago of some pastors and older clergy members. “Why do women today not cover their heads when they pray?” Honestly, I really didn’t get an answer. They all sort of danced around the subject. Eventually, the only answer I got is that it was up to the woman. (My point exactly.) The reverence of God has been lost.

Second, I believe to be lukewarm Christians. A lukewarm Christian is a self-serving Christian. What they want takes precedence over being an obedient servant. What I refer to as part-time Christians are those who go to church on Sunday and that is often all the exposure to God the get throughout the week, unless some crisis is occurring.

They speak nothing of God to anyone other than attempting to portray themselves as a good Christian to fellow church members, but that is the extent of most of the time. I have heard them referred to as “Sunday morning Christians”, and that is a good description.

I would guess we have all had times this could be said about us, but when it becomes the norm—that is something very wrong. A lukewarm Christian is distasteful to God, and that is made very clear in the book of Revelation concerning the church of Laodicea. 

Diligence is the requirement of the Christian. Not only must we maintain the depth of our faith but we must constantly guard ourselves from the wiles of the devil. We are told that the road is hard and the gate narrows that leads to Heaven.

So I have asked this question in the past and I’ll continue to ask it, “Why is Jesus not enough?” What is required for some to serve Him? What more could our Lord possibly give to bring about the full commitment of those who claim His name? Our Lord was crucified and took upon Himself the sins of the world. He then died on the cross and three days later rose victorious so that we may live with Him in paradise for eternity! Again I ask, why was that not enough?

“You know you have gone spiritually blind when you can see nothing wrong with something God calls Sin!”

Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple