The Sin Problem

Hebrews 10:11 MSG “Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem.” If I may update that with my own phraseology, “Every preacher goes to work every Sunday, but offering the same old messages year in year out, he never even addresses the old ‘Sin Problem’ “

We are so fortunate to belong to a church where the leadership team – Snr Pastor, Executive Pastor, and five ministry leaders – face problems head on and when they arise. That last bit is so important. To defer addressing a problem is to allow it to fester and grow, probably exponentially, until it is so out of hand that it can no longer be resolved without causing a schism in the body. Not only does the problem get addressed and dealt with lovingly, firmly, fairly, and Biblically, but you can count the services on one hand that will pass before the problem is dealt with from the pulpit too.

Too many churches today try to sweep a problem under the carpet. They don’t address it, rather they tickle the ears of the congregation with what they want to hear rather than that which they so desperately need to hear. Yet sin is so simple to deal with if confronted immediately. What does the Word say in 2 Chronicles 7:14? “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” It really is that simple. Repent and turn from the sin and the Lord will forgive you and “remember your sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34)

Yet how many churches, or more exactly, church pastors and leaders fall into sin themselves by ignoring the sin in their midst. By ignoring it they condone it. No matter how loudly they protest that they do not condone the sin, their actions or inactions speak otherwise. So, the whole church sees their leaders ignore the sin and the congregation, rightly or wrongly, the congregation sees ‘approval’ of the sin and acceptance of the sinner as he is with no repentance and no turning away.

When we ignore, or worse, condone sin, we become the same as the sinner. In law, if you know of a murder, or abuse, or rape, or whatever, and if you say nothing, then you are guilty of aiding and abetting the crime and perverting the course of justice. It is the same in God’s eyes too. To ignore or do nothing about sin is to grieve God as though you had committed the sin yourself. You become as sinful as the originator. We must stop hiding or covering up or ignoring the sins of others. They are answerable for their sins and we become answerable for why we did nothing.

I feel for those in positions of responsibility, especially counsellors who may be acting as confessors and thereby hearing confessions or admissions. They are caught in the trap. On the one hand, they may wish to keep the secrets of the confessional. On the other hand, the law demands they report any crime of which they have knowledge. On the one hand they have a responsibility to those entrusted to their counsel and on the other hand they are responsible for protecting the rest of their sheep.

However, I also have no wish to stand before God one day only to be asked why I knew of a sin but did nothing about it. There are all sorts of caveats you can put on it. Perhaps the person confessed and repented before the Lord and covered it by the Blood. Is that it? Is there no justice for the aggrieved?

We have to stop covering and excusing sin. If it is not illegal then confession, forgiveness, and repentance is sufficient – as long as the turning away is real. If it is illegal, we must report it and allow the law to take its course.

The Church is the Bride of Christ. To be ‘spotless’ for His coming, she must be clean and she must be seen to be clean otherwise how can she preach the Gospel with a clear conscience? The spots of sin are so easily dealt with – if we follow the teaching in God’s Word.