Stylish Repentance

Without a doubt, the call of the Christian Gospel is a call to REPENT -- to turn away from one's sin and pursue holiness through a changed heart. To be sure, the flesh remains and no one should expect complete victory over sin this side of the grave, but belief without repentance is no belief at all, and "faith without works is dead".

In different denominations and traditions, different sins are characteried as particularly henious and come in for condemnation, while other sins are, if not exactly ignored, underemphasized and played down or "spiritualized" to the point or irrelevance. Critics of evangelicalism from within the camp in recent years have pointed out, often with pinpoint accuracy, evangelicalism's sometime overemphasis on sins of personal morality, such as adultery, fornication, theft and murder, along with a heavy "word" ministry where conversion of new believers is prized above all, and simultaneous underemphasis on "deed" ministries, preeminently the care of the poor.

Fair enough. There's certainly plenty for evangelicals to answer for, and lack of concrete deeds to back up the claim of love for the poor -- at least in the twentieth century -- is an easy target. But there is a trend among some evangelical enthusiasts for the "rediscovery" of solidarity with the poor to realign the priorities of sin along lines every bit as unbiblical as the worst of evangelicalism ever did. Not surprisingly, this new ordering of sin tends to mesh rather well with our predominant cultural norms, if not full-blown political correctness. So, the trendy evangelical says, the church has forgotten how to love one another, the very heart of the gospel. Caring for the poor ought to be preeminent in the life of the Christian.

Note that, while completely true, this sentiment (if not its actual implementation) is fully consistent with cultural pressures brought to bear in the twenty-first century United States. No one can deny that's it's cool to care for the poor, and that generally speaking, it's easy to gain admiration for one's caring, tolerant attitudes concerning the poor. And who doesn't enjoy the approval of others? Opposition to gay marriage, on the other hand, while exceedingly popular (Alabama's constitutional amendment against it just passed with a staggering 81% of the vote, and Alabama was the twentieth state to pass such an amendment), not to mention the "puritanical" condemnation of homosexual acts and fornication and the "oppresive" and "burdensome" opposition to abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and euthanasia, clash rather directly with the reigning ethos of publicly respectable opinion.

Want to test whether your views on a particular subject are consistent with the reigning culture? Imagine yourself appearing on a late-night talk show or Oprah and saying what you think on that subject. What is the audience's response? Applause and cheers or boos and jeers? That's the difference between "speaking truth to power" and "oppressive hate speech." Of course, the biblical position may be generally consistent with the culture's currently fashionable values, such as with the question of whether to care for the poor. But where culture embraces what God's law negates, Christians are still called to repent, even if it's unfashionable. Those who wish to open eyes within evangelicalism to sins of omission over the last century -- and those eyes do need opening -- would do well to appreciate evangelicals' willingness to face the harsh rebuke of the culture for taking some tough stands.