For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Romans 6:23
The verse should be upon the lips of every Christian all the time, regardless of what the sin is or sinner has done. It should be the main thesis of every sermon preached on repentance, and in result, a part of every altar call given by the local church. Yet we forget, that without Christ, we all are just sinners saved by grace, yet the church of today has forgotten the meaning of love, and of grace, and thrown sin back upon the one forgiven as if it were some sort of moral slime. While they stand in the face of God�s grace, many congregations have made a �scarlet letter� on the face of people who have asked and received God�s forgiveness.
What is Sin
If you want clinical definitions, you came to the wrong article. Beyond any definition I find the one that is best suited for the Christian is that it is a cancer. We all have the potential for it, the ability to have it, and all of us, no matter our race, color and creed carry it within us. We are all terminally ill with it, and it is killing us. But there is a cure. The cure for this cancer is the blood of Christ. It�s power, shed on the cross two thousand years ago, extends to you and me despite how bad and advanced the cancer is, and wipes it clean. It does not grow, it does not progress, and it is the most advanced form of spiritual chemotherapy available. That is what the blood of Christ offers. Grace, Forgiveness, and renewing of the body. His Blood is the cure for every soul. It is the reconditioning of every wounded heart, every sin sick body, and every person can be made whole and new through the grace of God. Sin has been defeated at the cross, yet, at times, the church applies a �scarlet letter� upon its people, and we as a people, make those that are to walk in grace, walk in our condemnation.
Personal Experience
I have personally felt this in my church life. I no longer attend a formal church because of this very reason. I was accused of the unthinkable to me, then when it was proved that I did not do the things I was accused of, it continually was thrown in my face, through the members of my local congregation and support. I know the church was looking out for its own. I know that they were testing my fruit, which they had full rights to do. But these people still two years later, could not accept the fact that I was walking in the grace that I knew was provided for me. It was misplaced condemnation, it was foolish, arrogant and it was wrong. It was a church that aimed the shotgun of condemnation at one of its sheep, and pulled the trigger, without even thinking of what they were doing�It was not Jesus or His Grace.
Have You Walked a Mile�..
I wonder if we ever take the time to walk in the sinner�s shoes. To know what they feel, to know how condemnation feels. To know that the tugging of the Holy Spirit is the ever-present conscience that weighs upon the heart of the believer, who has the Law of God written on his heart, yet walks away from it in a moment of lapse from his convictions. I wonder if when we confess sin, how fast the news of it spreads to other �caring� and �concerned� souls, so they can �agree in prayer� when it becomes widespread news, and the whole thing is makes person found �guilty as charged� despite what he did, or did not do? Maybe even prayer for temptation becomes just as guilty as the actual act of sin. It has all been done through the local church, which is most likely more of a problem than the actual sin. We need to make a re-evaluation of how we deal with these wounded warriors.
The Walking Wounded
We are in a war�Spiritual lives are lost every day by the countless thousands. But I personally believe that the church itself provides the casualties. We are in our own personal Viet Nam, We are shooting through the bush, and hitting our own people with the bullets without grace, then we take them and place them on the side lines, when all the time we should have been enabling them to reach the other wounded. How dare we stand in the place of judgement, while the power of forgiveness is healing their wounds. The walking wounded, despite their sin, or condemnation from the local body are not a lost people. They have been shot, many have even turned away in bitterness from the church ( and who can blame them?) They have found us to be a people that are much like the Pharisees of Jesus� day. They are centered completely on the law, but do not live by the Spirit of that law. They know the power of God, but have know Godleness within them. Many are spiritually dying, simply because they do not know who, in this huge family of Christians, that they can trust. They are spiritual zombies that need to be awakened and realize that they were the ones that were
right, and wronged, and then continue standing up for what they believe despite what others may or may not think.
Enablers of Grace
We need to put down our guns. We need to understand that if the person is indeed walking in the grace of Christ, that he or she will be tested, tried, and convicted by the Spirit of God. How do we know that they are? Does it not say that, �By their fruits you will know them?� Did Jesus not go to the fig tree and curse it simply because it looked so good, yet it bore only leaves rather than the fruit that was intended to be on its branches? Does he not know the Hearts and deeds of men better than most? What I have found in Journeying through the body of Christ is that most its people are listening to leaders that are killing dreams. They seek only the tithe of the Christian, to feed them with knowledge, and watch them get fat on the Gospel, rather than having it put into practice. It�s food that is easily palatable; pleasant to taste, and makes them feel so good to add to the church�s purse, cause they are doing the �work of the ministry.� We have a spiritual obesity problem that stems from feeding on so much grace that is full of ease and fatty substance that it lacks the forgiveness and constant conviction that is full of the grace God
intended it to be. If the gospel was preached as it was intended, our isles in the churches would be full of repentance, sin would be left at the alters, never to be lifted again, and wounds would be salved with the sweet grace of Jesus. We would not disable people in the local congregation�but enable them despite their spiritual ability, or how advanced we think they are. We would enable them to reach the lost, despite all moral failures, lapses and convictions. We would reach them with the love of Christ, rather than leading them to the streets of condemnation. We would be enablers of grace�rather than disablers of souls.
Reality Check
Martian Luther was the father of the great reformation. Yet history shows him correctly to be a womanizer and a drunk. Yet he was convicted enough to know that the laws of the church of his day disabled the people. Dr Martin Luther King has been rumored to be with several women, and have many extra-marital affairs, yet God orchestrated through him one of the largest movements of spiritual awakenings, through the church among blacks around the globe. Even the apostle Peter denighed Jesus to his face, yet, grew to be the most inspirational people of the Bible. All of these people and more of our Heroes of the faith were people that had one thing on their mind. They Obeyed what God told them to do despite their sin. They walked day by day in grace. They grew in the love and ability of a Father that said, �I love you.� Despite your sin, your failures and shortcomings, �I love you, because you are mine.� That same father lays claim to us, and carries us through every struggle we will encounter. Whether His people agree with him or not. You have a Spiritual Heritage that you can lay claim to in Him.
Wrapping it all up
When I was a teen, my mother threatened to hang a sign in the hallway of our home reading, �TEENAGERS: So you think you got it all together, and you think you know everything, MOVE OUT WHILE YOU STILL THINK YOU DO.� And many times we in the church feel we do know everything, and help move people out ourselves. We judge them and condemn them rather than love them in mercy. We refuse to walk in the shoes of their hurt and pain, yet, without caring, disregard them as someone who desires the same as you do, To know Christ. The fact of the matter is, we no longer display the grace that has been given to all, but freely peer through a spiritual microscope that cannot focus to our eyes, but is for God�s eyes only and Judge and condemn those around us without Thinking. We prideful accept our so-called spiritual maturity as a license to condemn those in sin, instead of freeing them from their bondage. And we still walk in the bitterness of a harsh gospel, which condemns the sinner, rather than the sin. This is the problem. The question now is, what are YOU going to do about it, and therein lies the solution.
