"REPENT!"
What a bully of a word when used without love. Do you picture an old-time preacher, dressed in black from head to toe, shaking his finger at the startled audience under a hot tent, veins bulging out of his face as he hollers his hellfire and brimstone accusations? That's the image that invades my mind sometimes when I hear the word, "repent."
What does it mean really? How did our Savior use it? Is the word obsolete because there are some who abuse it?
Let's take a look!
Strong's defines the Greek verb, "metanoeo," as:
1. to change one's mind, i.e. "to repent"
2. to change one's mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.
Now, the sour-faced preachers were not lying when they preached the need for repentance! Jesus Himself said, in Matthew 4:17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Or, in other words, "Change your mind for the better! Hate your sin and heartily amend your behavior, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" It doesn't appear to be a suggestion, but a command.
Both Pastor Crabby Pants and Jesus used the same word, "repent," but their delivery of the same message was quite different. Jesus spoke directly, but lovingly. Pastor Crabby Pants was trying to scare people into repentance.
The afterlife of one who does not repent is a scary prospect, and perhaps some of those unkind preachers have been successful at persuading some terrified souls to make some changes. I wonder, though, if those people have ever come to understand the love of Jesus.
I like the parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15. Read the passage right now if you can. You won't be disappointed. :) A lost soul, who needs to repent, is compared to: a lost sheep whose owner leaves his other 99 sheep to find the one; a lost silver coin, whose owner sweeps her house until she finds it, though she has 9 more secure silver coins; and a son who seriously insults his father by asking for his inheritance, squanders it, is ready to crawl back to his father, but is met by his father running toward him. Jesus says there is rejoicing in Heaven over one person who repents.
When I've heard those hellfire and brimstone preachers (mostly in the movies or on Little House on the Prairie), their message seems more like, "God thinks you're a jerk and can't wait to throw you in hell, but, if you REPENT!, you can save yourselves!"
This is so different from what Jesus portrayed. He loves us! His Father sent Him because His Father loves us! Jesus seems to be rooting for us, but never forcing us, to choose Him-- abundant life! He also wants us to show mercy toward other sinners who repent.
Luke 5:31-32
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Luke 17:3
So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
Luke 17:4
If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, "I repent," forgive him.
Repentance shouldn't bring fear to our lives, but freedom! Even long-time saints can have sin in their lives they need to repent of. Have you strayed from the Lord in some area of your life? There may be consequences involved, but Jesus isn't standing in the shadows, ready to condemn you. What He did for you on the cross, the forgiveness you don't deserve but that He freely offers you, is similar to that father running toward his wayward son. Jesus wants you to repent! He wants you to turn from your sin and toward Him so you can experience His freedom.
"Repent!" I tell you. Except I'm saying it quietly, with a smile and a hug, and I'm saying it to myself, too. :)
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