The last post discussed God’s mixed attitude and actions toward the unrepentant sinner. On the one hand, Scripture tells us that He hates all workers of iniquity. Yet, He shows grace toward them in the sense that He does not want them to perish, and therefore gives them time to repent and even shows kindness to them as a means of drawing them to repentance.
However, if they do not repent, God will ultimately judge them. And, as we find frequently in Scripture, God might even deal harshly with them in the present.
Contemporary American evangelicals love to propagate the grace side of this formula but tend to be silent regarding the hostility of God toward the unrepentant sinner. I was told of two Christian leaders who approached President Clinton at the height of the Monica Lewinski scandal with the message: “God loves you at your deepest core.”
The messages of unconditional acceptance and self-esteem (unconditional self-acceptance) both convey grace as an absolute, ignoring the enmity and judgment side of God’s orientation toward the unrepentant sinner. These themes dominate the practical theology of contemporary evangelicals.
This perspective conveys the message that righteousness does not matter to God. In fact, that concept is taught explicitly by some evangelicals. One book asserts that since we are all sinners, with everything that we do being tainted with sin to some degree, God must overlook all of our works and maintain a relationship with us totally on the basis of grace.
This means that our lifestyle is not a factor in our relationship with God. Consequently, righteousness is not an issue with Him.
Even a casual reading of the Scripture, including the New Testament makes it clear that this teaching is erroneous. God cares very much that His people live righteously.
The assertion that righteousness is not a factor in our relationship with God has produced dreadful results in the evangelical community. The surveys of George Barna expose the profligacy of the evangelical community. For example, evangelicals are very comfortable watching movies containing nudity, and profanity is no longer even an issue.
I have personally talked with a number of couples claiming to be evangelical Christians who were living together. When I approached the issue of their lifestyle, they tended to either become indignant or perplexed, wondering why I thought that might be a problem with God.
Even more devastating is the lack of concern over this trend. In a recent article, Barna reports: “The fact that the lifestyle of most churched adults is essentially indistinguishable from that of unchurched people is not a concern for most churches; whether or not people have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior is the sole or primary indicator of “life transformation,” regardless of whether their life after such a decision produces spiritual fruit.”
Contemporary evangelicals need to stop indulging themselves with the junk food of sensuality and have their appetites whet for righteousness. A hunger and thirsting for righteousness would produce an evangelical reformation.
Our next post will discuss spiritual appetite suppressors.