(By David Giarrizzo)

Culture is not inherently evil. In fact, God created men and women as people of culture. As Augustine understood, words (“signs”) are a basic part of humanity as well as a basic part of culture. Relationships and the verbal and physical communication between humans is a natural part of being human, and likewise a part of culture. We were created as cultural beings.

Furthermore, because Jesus was fully God and fully man, he too walked this earth as a cultural being, but one without sin. Without going into depth of detail, allow me to briefly mention how Jesus himself lived within the confines of a specific culture and he took part in it:

• He learned a trade and worked as a carpenter where he would have designed and constructed objects that were known and used in his Jewish culture.
• We assume that he dressed no differently from those around him; he fit in normally with the other disciples.
• He attended the wedding at Cana (…and even made the festivities better!) and he visited the tomb of a dead man named Lazarus—both were cultural experiences in his day.
• He interacted and dined with sinners like the woman at the well and Zacchaeus the tax collector.

I like how Kenneth Myers puts it in his defining work on popular culture, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: “Popular culture, like the meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 10, is a part of the created order, part of the earth that is the Lord’s, and thus something capable of bringing innocent pleasures to believers. But not everything that is permissible is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)

In other words, when that which is an “innocent pleasure” created by God for man’s use and enjoyment becomes something that is abused, overused, or idolized, a love for the created thing takes the place of the Creator God and this then becomes the sin of idolatry. While money isn’t evil in and of itself, 1 Timothy 6:10 reminds us that it is a “root of all kinds of evil” and craving such a base thing as money has led some to wander away from the faith. Additionally, we should remember that the sin of idolatry is not limited to loving just one aspect of our culture, but it takes many shapes: materialism, greed, conformity, covetousness, gluttony, drunkenness, the fear of man, etc.  1 John 2:16 says “For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.” The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of possessions are all distinguishing traits of worldliness. And these desires are what clever marketing strategies aim to produce in us consumers; in fact, they make a profit off it.

In a helpful little book edited by C.J. Mahaney entitled Worldliness, Mahaney defines worldliness as simply, “a love for this fallen world.” “More specifically,” writes Mahaney, “it is to gratify and exalt oneself to the exclusion of God.”  We see this love for a fallen world in action in the story of Lot’s escape from Sodom. Genesis 19:26 records one worldly woman’s demise in one sentence: “But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” It is the looking back with a longing eye towards a fallen world that is destined for destruction that signifies the worldliness in our hearts. When we think twice about forsaking all this world has to offer to follow Christ; when we hesitate about leaving this cursed earth for a New Jerusalem; these are moments when we should find ourselves falling to our knees in repentance and asking God to forgive us for our worldly inclinations and give us minds set upon Christ and that world which is to come.

Let me conclude with this clarifying reminder: Living in our culture and participating in the good things that God has created does not constitute the sin of worldliness for a believer. But it’s when that appreciation for our culture becomes a warm affection for the world around us that we are in danger of sinning. Where are our thoughts? What are our cravings? The answers to these questions will show us just how loving of the world we really are. Whether it’s a desire for more food or drink, money or power or sex, worldliness is a sin that can breed in the lives of those under the unknowing influence of popular culture. May we never forget the admonition of Romans 12:2a—“Do not be conformed to this world.” And may we always remember Lot’s wife.

Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world—

the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—

is not from the Father but is from the world.

And the world is passing away along with its desires,

but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

-1 John 2:15-17

(By: Nicholas Kennicott)

“Hey Kevin. I’m really grieved about cheating on my taxes the other day when I was working through my deductions. I want to confess that to you so you can hold me accountable to do the right thing.”

“Oh Tim, don’t worry about it man – everyone does that here and there, it’s not a big deal. Besides, it’s your money. Just forget about it.”

What’s wrong with that conversation? Or this one:

“Hi Betty. I wanted to call and confess to you that I told some of the ladies at church the information you shared with me about your marriage problems with Gregg even though you had asked me not to say anything. I’m very sorry Betty, will you please forgive me?”

“Oh yeah, Nancy… no problem. That’s not really that big of a deal, I wouldn’t worry about it… I mean that should be good anyway, right? Now they know how to pray for us.”

Unfortunately, it seems as though Christians have a lot of these conversations. These examples show two different people who have sinned are looking for accountability, but aren’t receiving it. They have confessed their sins to one another, yet have not been responded to in a helpful manner.

It’s certainly a natural tendency of ours to minimize sin when hearing from repentant and heartfelt people who are seeking forgiveness and accountability. We don’t like things to be messy or lacking in peace. We don’t tend to desire conflict. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard to confront someone who is in sin, or to agree with them that they have sinned in a specific situation. Our propensity is to make them feel better about themselves or the situation, without actually addressing the issue for what it is. Yet, in the end what we actuallydo is make a bad situation worse by granting permission to sin.

A primary aspect of true Christian community is accountability. Christians who are focused on holiness have a longing for accountability and correction. The Apostle James envisioned a community that was intentional about the mutual confession of sins: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another” (James 5:16a). This is certainly not a detailed account of specific sin, but rather a humble honesty about having committed sin, and recognizing the need to be cleansed by Christ. Paul also had mutual confession in mind as he wrote to the Galatians: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2). Matthew Henry wisely comments:

Where persons have injured one another, acts of injustice must be confessed to those against whom they have been committed. Where persons have tempted one another to sin or have consented in the same evil actions, there they ought mutually to blame themselves and excite each other to repentance. Where crimes are of a public nature, and have done any public mischief, there they ought to be more publicly confessed, so as may best reach to all who are concerned. And sometimes it may be well to confess our faults to some prudent minister or praying friend, that he may help us to plead with God for mercy and pardon.[1]

James’ exhortation is not a suggestion that one should keep a record of their personal wrongdoings to confess to another. It seems more appropriate to understand James as commanding confession to other believers when the sin is public, when the sin directly affects another person, or when the sin is recurrent in our lives and we are in need of accountability. It is also wise to confess sins to another when our conscience is grieved, and when we would like someone else to remind us of the promises of God to forgive us our sins when we humbly confess them to Him. In this we must be wise, for to confess our sins outside the circle of each sin’s effect, we may be causing more harm than good. If today’s Christians truly desire the experience of genuine Christian community, it would do us well to make a practice of confessing our sins to one another.

Perhaps more important than confessing our sins to another is how we hear and respond when someone else is confessing their sins to us. Kevin and Betty in our example above did not respond in a way that is helpful. Kevin could have responded differently by saying:

“Well Tim, I’m encouraged to know that you are seeking accountability for this sin – I will be faithful to hold you to what you have asked. And remember brother, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners, the Lord is faithful to forgive you for your sin when you humbly repent. It has already been paid for.”

In this response, Kevin didn’t attempt to make Tim feel better about sinning – in fact he acknowledges that guilt and a grieved conscience are good things in the midst of sin. Additionally, he agrees to hold Tim accountable to correct his wrongdoing and appropriately reminds him of the gospel. Betty could have more appropriately responded to Nancy if she had said:

“Yes Nancy, I forgive you. I must say that I am hurt to know that you shared with others what I had asked you not to, but I am thankful for your honesty and your willingness to make things right. There’s no way that I couldn’t forgive you because of how much forgiveness I have been granted in Christ.”

Betty is not sweeping Nancy’s sin under the rug. She grants her forgiveness, and yet is honest about her hurt in the situation. Most importantly, Betty reminds Nancy of the gospel when she mentions how great a debt she has been forgiven in Christ Jesus. Betty is now obligated to be reconciled to Nancy.

Do you see the difference? A community of faith that responds appropriately to the sins of others is a community of faith that is healthy, unified, and filled with joy. The burden of guilt and bitterness is removed. The consciences of the people are cleansed. And most importantly, the gospel is spoken of, applied, and seen as the end all be all of life together. “So in the Christian community” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “when the call to brotherly confession and forgiveness goes forth it is a call to the great grace of God in the Church.”[2]

May the people of God be faithful to confess their sins to one another, and may the people of God respond to their brothers and sisters appropriately as a reflection of the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

---

[1]Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991), Jas 5:12.

[2]Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community, trans. John Dobertstein (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1954), 112.

(By: John Miller)


When Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, at the top of the list was the following:

When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

Repentance is not something we do only once at the beginning of the Christian life, but throughout our entire lives as Christians. Indeed, the whole of a Christian’s life is to be seen as a life of repentance. But what is repentance? Let’s briefly consider a couple elements of godly repentance.


First, we must remember that repentance is a “saving grace” as the Shorter Catechism answer states. In other words, it is not something that you can work up in your own strength and power. It is a gift of the Spirit, a gift that God must grant (2 Timothy 2:25). The wonderful reality about this gift is that Jesus Christ has purchased this gift for his brothers and sisters, and God the Father delights to give the gift of repentance to His children!


Second, repentance involves change: both a change in mind, as well as a change in life direction. There is both internal change and external change. Externally, there is a change in our actions. We put off sinful behavior, and put on Christ-likeness. But true repentance is not merely external. It involves an internal change of the heart as well. Internally, we change our mind about our sin. Before we were indifferent towards our sin, having a cavalier attitude towards our rebellion against our holy God. But when God grants the grace of repentance, we see the utter sinfulness of our sin, and what an offense it is to our great, holy, majestic, loving, kind, and glorious God. This produces in us a genuine hatred of our sin, as well as a sense of shame, humility, and sorrow before God. This sorrow is not a worldly sorrow that leads to despair, but a godly sorrow that leads to life (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).


In fact, repentance produces in us a sorrow that leads to joy! Why is this? Because, as hinted at above, repentance not only involves a change of mind about our sin, but also a change of mind about the one we’ve sinned against: our holy and loving God. Before repentance, there are several ways in which we are not viewing God rightly. One of the ways we do not view God rightly is that we forget His kindness and mercy. In some way we’ve come to believe the lie of Satan that God is harsh, cold, distant, and unforgiving. So we sin against God. But when God grants repentance, there is not only an apprehension of the sinfulness of our sin, but also “of the mercy of God in Christ,” (again, as the Shorter Catechism states). As the Apostle Paul wrote, “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). We come to see the holy love of God that caused Him to send His one and only Son to die for sinners like you and me. We come to see the unfathomable patience and kindness of God in forbearing with us in all our foolishness. We come to see the God who is like no other, full of grace and truth. And as we come to Him in repentance, we experience the joy of sins forgiven, and the joy of renewed and restored fellowship with our Triune God. Oh how great is your mercy, O Lord! (Psalm 119:156). Have you experienced the joy of repentance lately?