Not Too Sinful for Forgiveness
“I feel like the people in the church are so judgmental.” “I don’t go to church because of the hypocrites.” These are sayings that I have heard from some of my friends, even the ones that have grown up in the church like me. Somehow, it seems that many of the people in my age group think that going to a church opens yourself up to criticism – to your face or behind your back. I don’t think I am the only one who has heard, “I thought so and so was a Christian, but so and so does sins X, Y, and Z so I guess they are a faker/hypocrite/bad Christian.”
Maybe you can relate. I remember thinking that I couldn’t really be a youth leader at a church campmeeting until I had scrubbed my sin record clean, asked for forgiveness for my sins, and remained a good example by not committing sins anymore. I didn’t want people to compare my actions with my beliefs and say that they were incompatible – I didn’t want to be looked at like I was a hypocrite or be judged for my actions while claiming to be a Christian. I feel like this fear is present in some of my friends who are worried about judgmental people at church (this fear can start a cycle, since not going to church might be the easiest solution if you don’t want to be held to a high standard and then be judged if that standard is not met).
However, not going to church is not the best possible solution. I recently heard a sermon that analogized going to the gym to going to church. The speaker lamented the fact that everyone that frequents gyms seems to be so fit. There are often girls at the gym who wear makeup and buy expensive work out clothes to sweat in, and all of the muscular guys are often the ones who were monopolizing the weights and lifting. He said, churches are the same way – it seems like everyone is so perfect, sinless and Christian at church – it’s as rare to see an obese person at the gym as it is to see a person that is a real in-your-face sinner in a church’s pews.
But this set up is all backwards – gyms are places for out of shape people to get fit, and churches are places for people who are sick with sin. Jesus recognized this, even stating that “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) Jesus also made clear his attitude towards sinners. In the Parable of the Lost Son, the younger son who squandered his share of the family fortune, ate with pigs, and humbled himself with the thought of asking his father to simply make him like one of his father’s hired servants, who were living better than him. When he approached his father, he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” (Luke 15:22) Instead of rebuking his son or shaming him for losing his money and coming back defeated and empty handed, the father kisses him, puts him in his best robe, puts a ring and sandals on his feet, and kills their fattened calf for a feast in his honor. When pressed on why he would do all of this for someone who had sinned against him, the father responds that there is “…reason to celebrate and be glad, because my son was dead but is alive again…my son was lost and now is found.” (Luke 15:31)
Maybe Jesus’ attitude towards sinners is something that we as church members should try to emulate. As the Bible makes clear, Jesus looks at sinners who are seeking forgiveness with compassion, love, and as a reason for celebration because one of his own was lost, but now is found. In Jesus’ eyes, sinners deserve extra love and forgiveness – never a dose of judgment. Jesus may be able to judge sinners, but He never does without offering a remedy for the judgment – forgiveness. Jesus can forgive sins, if only we ask him. He has promised to make us as clean and white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) We don’t have to be afraid of judgment from others, whether or not we will look like hypocrites, or of our old mistakes – Jesus can take care of them all. We are never too sinful for forgiveness or too sinful for a church.
In the end, Jesus wanted to be with the sinners, the sick, and the unhealed because he believed that he was sent to earth to save them. He believed in welcoming back sinners with open arms and with rejoicing because it meant that they were on a path to being saved and forgiven. Maybe if we as a church acted more like Jesus, some church members wouldn’t feel as hurt or isolated or turn their back on the church. I believe that if sinners are welcomed back into the church like the prodigal son, churches will not only be healthier places, but have more satisfied and forgiven members.
Ashley Kim is a 2L at The University of Texas School of Law.