A Word From The Word: Repent!
The word “repent” has become a church-word—a word used only in church circles, often without much meaning. Not only has it become a church word, it’s a very unpopular church word. The most popular preachers in the world avoid talking about repentance because, as one said in an interview, “People don’t want to hear that.”
When someone in the world hears the word, it often raises the image of a strange person carrying a sign downtown reading “Repent, the end is near!”. Repent just isn’t a word we often hear in normal discussion.
Which is a problem because, according to the Bible, repentance is necessary for us to be forgiven! Jesus said He came to proclaim repentance (Luke 5:32), and when Peter was asked by the horrified crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost what they should do after having crucified the Messiah, he told them, “Repent, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38).
The primary word translated repentance in the New Testament is “metanoia”. It literally means a change of mind. When Jesus said He didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32), He was saying those who understand they are sinners need to change their mind about how they are living. They need to understand that God is right, and living as their own Lord just doesn’t work. So, they need to decide not to be their own Lords, but instead, to submit to Jesus as Lord. It’s not just that they “should” do this—they need to do this.
All people need to repent. All need to change their minds (once for all, and sometimes a “refresher” change!) that:
1) God knows better than we do. When we disagree with God, He is right.
2) We are not good at being our own Lords. We need to accept Jesus as Lord.
3) Any specific behavior that God says is wrong (sin) is indeed wrong, so we need to stop it (or in some cases, start doing what we should be doing that we aren’t).
No one can be a Christian, and no disciple of Jesus can be healthy, without repentance. But changing our minds is the first step. Repentance assumes something follows. We change our mind, then we change our behavior! Paul said when he shared the gospel, he told people that they needed to repent and turn (Acts 26:20). The word “turn” is epistrepho, to turn around.
Today Christians are often told exactly what they want to hear by preachers, teachers, bloggers, authors—and certainly the world. This has in many cases poisoned us. We need to look to God’s word, not just to make us feel good, but to tell us what we don’t want to hear. What and when we need to change. This is resisted by many ministers who fear losing people when they hear something they don’t want to hear. But God has not commissioned us to teach everything people want to hear. We are told to teach everything Jesus commanded!
It is ironic that, as the Church sometimes repents of repentance, the world has embraced the concept, though changing the words. The vast majority of psychotherapies in use by counselors and therapists today practice some form of Cognitive-Behavioral or Rational-Emotive Therapies. Both of these involve identifying thoughts they need to change (change their minds=repentance), which will in turn help change behavior and emotions.
If we are to be healthy disciples, we need to first embrace our own need for repentance and practice it whenever the Holy Spirit convicts us of the need. We need to turn from the behaviors that are based in the old mind and begin practicing those consistent with repentance. We also need to be willing to call others—one another and those who have never come to the Lord—to repent. There is no other way for us to be healthy, or for them to be saved!
Know Jesus, and Be Faithful!