Sinners at Church? No!

I had a discussion with Lance and our neighbor, Jim, last night about why many people are so turned off by American churches today. I’ve talked to enough people about this to know that “hypocrisy” is on the top of that list of reasons. But I started thinking last night that perhaps the American church has created this image of hypocrisy by making its focus on the people rather than on Jesus. The churches I have been to tend to focus on moral behavior as the definition of being a Christian. Thus, when people go to church they are more likely to hide those aspects of their lives that don’t line up with Christianity. This atmosphere of “righteousness” prevents people from talking about their sinful tendencies and sin becomes a hidden struggle that one must deal with on his own. Obviously church is the last place you would reveal your sexual struggles or your substance abuse or hate and anger toward someone. Then everyone would know we are not truly Christians no matter how much we want to belong.

But what if we emphasized the true definition of salvation—that we are sinners in need of a Savior? What if it didn’t mean that you were a terrible Christian if you failed and sinned? What if, instead, acknowledging your sin in a community of Christians and asking for help to overcome the sin so that you can be pleasing to your Savior made you a strong Christian? If that became the church’s identity, when someone in the church sinned, non-Christians would not see it as inconsistent with the church’s message because the message of the church and the purpose of the church would be that we are sinners working together to live righteously before our God. We will fail but our deep repentance and forward progression would identify us as children of God rather than our apparent (feigned) sinlessness. When the church publicly dismisses people that sin from being part of the Body, it accomplishes 2 things:

1. It drives those in the church that are struggling with sin into a deeper and more secret battle that they will have a difficult time overcoming on their own.
2. It creates an image of hypocrisy when those who adamantly preach against sinners inevitably sin themselves. This turns people away from Christianity.

Now, I’m not at all saying that sin should be taken lightly. It irritates me when preachers stand up and rattle off all their sins and shortcomings like acknowledging them is something to be proud of. Sin is an offense against a holy God and should be grieved. Those who love God should mourn when they fail Him. But they must then acknowledge the power of their salvation and the power that the Holy Spirit gives us to overcome sin.