Words are a funny thing. We use them repeatedly in so many different ways they soon lose their true meaning. Once they lose their meaning we are open to confusion and misunderstandings.
Think about the word ‘love,’ I love this place, I love a good hamburger, I love you. Do they carry their true meaning or over time have they lost their meaning and become just language use?
The Bible and the Christian life are filled with words that have lost their meaning due to overuse and misuse. Consider the word ‘repent.’ Growing up we hear our parents say, “tell them you are sorry” and so we do, not because we are sorry, but because we don’t want them to make us so.
“Sorry” Isn’t Repentance
Often in church we hear “repent of your sins, confess them and God will forgive you.” We are conditioned to this message and so our reaction is to tell God “sorry” and ask forgiveness. We don’t even know that the word repent does not mean sorry.
The word repent actually means “to turn,” so used correctly in context with Scripture we aren’t being told to say “sorry” we are being told to change our ways. “To turn” to turn from what? To turn from wherever we are headed back to God. This is the first step of forgiveness.
Now, before we get too far along, most certainly remorse and forgiveness go hand-in-hand, without remorse we can’t have forgiveness. But Scripture tells us the correct order this occurs. Once we recognize the errors of our ways we are to turn from them, to repent. Why? We need to get back on track that points to God before we begin again down the same road.
A Little Off Course, A Long Way from God
When you consider using a compass, you only need to be 1 degree off to end up somewhere you don’t want to be. Pilots have the “1 in 60 rule” which states for every 60 miles flown 1 degree will have you 1 mile off your destination. Might not seem like much but if you typically fly hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles, you could end up in another country!
So it is with our relationship with God. Being a little off course causes us to end up far from God. We wander through life and often find ourselves feeling far from Him. In reality, He’s right where we left Him. Thus, to repent is to turn back to Him. Returning down the path where we left Him behind and rejoining Him on the right path.
Being sorry and feeling shame about our sins is an important part of the equation. But if we are only sorry and regretful, what stops us from doing it again? This is why repentance is the important first step, correcting our path.
The Story of the Bible Is Reconciliation
When we consider the word ‘repent’ as meaning to ‘return’ to God, we see this is more in line with how Scripture works and thus how God works. The story of the Bible is about reconciliation. When we venture off on our own trail as we have a habit of doing, God wants to be with us, but He won’t go down the road that leads to destruction, just like in Genesis where He left creation once sin entered. He loves us so much that He will allow us to go that way, also knowing we are hardheaded and hardhearted and want our own way; but God stays behind and awaits our return. This is the story of the prodigal son. His father allowed him to chase what he thought he wanted, all the while hoping his son would return to him with a better appreciation for his love. God believes this principle as well, which is why it’s written in the Bible.
Our human nature wants self-rule. Being created in the image of God is a privilege but we actually abuse it. We choose to be gods of our own little world in control of what happens but knowing we can always turn to the big guy when things get too big for us. This is the core message of sin. Sin is choosing self-rule over God’s rule. We do it every day, we all do it. God allows it because He loves us and wants us to learn to choose Him. Yes, He certainly could force the issue, but He would rather we be with Him out of our own free will.
Repentance Is Redirection, Not Shame
Repentance then is not shame, it’s redirection. Changing the direction we are heading so we actually end up where we truly want to go. We should actually like this concept because we are still in charge! It feeds our nature of self-rule to be the one to decide where we will go.
In our hearts we know we want to be with God. Prioritizing life is the issue we face. Lots of choices. In the ‘old days’ before credit was rampant, we learned to save up for what we wanted. Along the way other choices would pop up, and we had to decide if we wanted to continue with our original goal or spend our money on this new thing. We learned valuable lessons from this and we were tested on our priorities before committing. When credit came along, they told us we could have them all for one convenient monthly payment that lasts the rest of our life! Credit becomes slavery because we have no choice but to earn enough to pay it back. In the same way sin is slavery because it takes away from our relationship with God. Both end up somewhere we don’t want to be.
With God, we know we want Him, but we also want our way. The difference is you can’t have them both and when you try, you need repentance, remorse and forgiveness.
Thanks be to God that He created a way. His amazing plan to reconcile us to Him, to allow us the ability to live with Him and along the way we have the ability to make course corrections when our human nature gets in the way.