Repentance, An Escape?

To become a true Christ follower, we must first start with recognizing and confessing our sins, making the conscious decision to turn away from them, and turn to the God of redemption through Jesus Christ our savior. In ministry life, these words flow off of the tongue quickly and easily, and often we walk away brushing our hands together knowing the angels rejoice because of another one saved. Well - the angels do rejoice, but is our job done?

In the 21st Century, churches are springing up all over the place for people who are disillusioned by their salvation experience, feeling they've been let down by their church. After all, once a person has gone through the above process, truly believing in Christ, isn't life supposed to be all glory and no pain? If our job in the ministry is to only preach the salvation message, then that's what people will believe. We absolutely must tell the rest of the story - and be prepared to support people through it all.

We must tell them that just because we turn away from our past, it doesn't mean that there is no remnant, no memory of it still remaining. As a parent we forgive our child who has disobeyed, once they say they are sorry and truly show remorse (sometimes combined with tear-filled puppy dog eyes), but there must still be consequences. And depending on the disobedient act, a painful memory may remain for the child as well as the parent. Repentance does not mean we escape our past, but it does give us permission to move forward.

Paul is a great example of someone who had to live with the consequences of his past. He spent a large part of his life persecuting Jesus and all those who believed in him. His salvation experience was remarkable and afterwards he pursued converting others to Christ with more zeal than he did persecuting Jesus. But Paul did not go without residue, without a constant reminder of his past - a thorn that taunted him day and night. He was continually reminded of what he had done against Jesus. God forgave Paul in the same way He forgives us.

I want to be clear - even though we cannot escape our past completely, the life we live as true followers of Jesus Christ is far better than our life before Him. With Jesus, there is hope, love and grace like we have never experienced before. And if that's not enough, then there is the knowledge that we will spend eternal life with Him in Heaven.

As Easter approaches and we celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, remember we owe it to those who choose Christ to support their entire life, not just their salvation experience.

Repentance does not mean we escape our past, but it does give us permission to move forward.