In just under a week's time, we will be celebrating the 506th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church.
Pretty much most Octobers, I take to reading them through, studying them over. Not because they're Scripture - they aren't Scripture themselves (although Luther does quote Scripture quite often through them). And not because their direct applications are useful in the the 21st century - they were primarily written to deal with the exceptionally unbiblical "doctrine" of the selling of indulgences, which makes many of the theses largely out of date, seeing as that practice is generally not in use today by the Catholic Church. But they still hold usefulness for study in the 21st century. In fact, much more than you might be aware.
The two I tend to quote the most often are Theses 92 and 93, which say this:
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! (Jer. 6:14)
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
What Luther was saying was simply this: stop telling people that they're on good footing with God simply because they've done something. Instead, remind them that there is no way to get on good footing with God outside of the cross of Jesus Christ, a cross we all deserve, but if we've repented of our sin and trusted in Him as Savior, it's a cross that we no longer have to suffer.
Luther is quoting Jeremiah in this passage, from both Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11 (they're essentially identical). Interestingly, Jeremiah 6:15a and 8:12a are also nearly identical. For time's sake, I will simply quote Jeremiah 8:11-12a here (please feel free to read Jeremiah 6:14-15 as well):
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush. (NIV)
We may not be selling indulgences in the Church anymore, but many in the Church are unfortunately still selling a similar bill of goods. They're telling people that they're okay just the way they are. "You do you" is such a profound cultural mantra in the 21st century that it has crept into the Church. It's so dangerous! Because it leads to anti-biblical, anti-God teachings that sound something like this:
Jesus dined with sinners, and that made religious people uncomfortable. That's Jesus telling us that He was cool with sinful lifestyles, so we should be equally cool with sinful lifestyles
Or
You have to understand that people simply want to be encouraged. Jesus was an encourager, so if people walk away from church feeling convicted that they need to change, we've missed His heart
Or
The most important thing we can do is grow the numbers in the church, so we have to be careful not to offend anyone
Or
Issues like abortion or homosexuality are ultimately political, and since Jesus shied away from taking political sides, so should we
And so on and so forth...
The culture in general, the culture that has largely turned from a Judeo-Christian worldview to a Secular Progressive worldview, has spread the "You do you" mantra, and many in the Church have embraced it. They are preaching "Peace, peace" to people who have never repented, with the lie that "God loves you just the way you are." And they are being bound to hell, because they haven't surrendered their lives to Jesus. They just want His peace, His love, His salvation, but without any of the sacrifice. And many pastors oblige - like God said in Jeremiah, "They dress the wounds of my people as though it were not serious." Sin is like a gaping gunshot wound, and so many are putting on a bandaid, acting like they're fine.
It's not all that long ago in human history that people at least understood that they were going against the obvious designs of the Creator when they'd cheat on their spouses, speak with foul and course language, pass on gossip and innuendo, look at those websites that objectify the bodies of people, have homosexual relations, etc. etc. Now it's normalized. It used to be comical, for instance, when men would dress as women. Now, not only is it not comical, it's bigoted if you find it as such. It is as Jeremiah said: "They have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush." The only people who are taught to be ashamed are the ones who continue to hold to the Word of God.
There is, however, good news. Since Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we all have an innate bent toward selfishness and pride - which are at the heart of every sin. But we also all have an innate knowledge that God exists, that morality exists, that right and wrong exists, and if we dare explore it, we know that we're choosing against the Sovereign Creator when we choose lifetstyles that fit our designs over the ones that fit His. And if we could, for just a moment, block out all the voices, both from without AND from within, telling us that our sin was okay, we'd still acknowledge sin for what it is. A breaking from God's glorious and beautiful design.
There'd still be a place for shame.
Sin might just still make us blush.
In fact, we just might be moved to blush enough that we might respond to the very first of Luther's 95 Theses:
1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
We might just recognize that we are sinners, who deserve God's wrath. We might just acknowledge that we deserved that cross.
If only the Church would be so bold as to preach sin for what it is, and thus the necessity of repentance. Because then, and only then, could we point them to a cross they deserve, and show them Jesus taking their place on it. Only then would that amazing grace even make sense.
Please, I beg of you, look at your sin, and be ashamed. Look at your sin, and blush. And then look to the loving arms of Jesus, whose grace, as you run to Him in repentance, removes every last drop of that shame.
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