July 23, 2012 issue
We’re sinners too
By Dan Longenecker Lititz, Pa.There is a popular idea that good Christian preachers are so well in touch with God that they are beyond sin. Yes, they preach about sins being forgiven and the general need for grace. But they don’t actually still need that grace, do they? Yes, indeed we do!
Too often I am not a good choice-maker. I am too self- centered, caring for myself while the Lord wants me to care for someone else. Those who live close to me can easily see into my sin. Those people may say “amen” to my confession here. If they also then extend forgiveness, they share in God’s grace for me.
I am blessed when my fellow believers open their hearts to the reality of my spiritual needs. Even more than a preacher of the gospel, I am a sinner saved by grace.
What practical difference does this make? Instead of seeing myself as a past sinner who repented and was then saved by God’s forgiveness, I need grace now. That good word “repent” means to turn around. It means to regularly reach out for Jesus Christ’s undeserved kindness. What a joy to know that gift is being given to me, again and again!
I became an ordained minister well before I awakened to my basic sinfulness. The longer I live, the more clearly I see this spiritual fact. When people around me get awake to this vision, it adds joy to our relationship and increases Christ’s good news for everyone close by.
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