Jul
21
Regarding Repent
Filed Under Devotional
I’m a fan of vintage Western movies. However, I have never seen one where a Christian is portrayed as anything but a bumbling baboon that has a limited choice of Scripture. The crazy preacher always says, “an eye for an eye,” as he guns someone down. Then he gets admonished by the spinster, “Thou shalt not kill.” When there is singing, it is always one of three songs: “We Will Gather at the River”, “Amazing Grace”, or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The only time a preacher is shown as the hero is when a reformed-gunfighter-turned-preacher is pushed into a fight and he guns down a bad guy. The story ends when he hangs his gun belt on the peg and rides off into the sunset with the girl.
Also, why do they always refer to the Bible as “The Good Book”? I’ve read lots of good books other than the Bible. Not to mention, the Bible is actually a portable library of sixty-six books.
These misinformed scriptwriters have done a lot of damage to the Christian image, but they are not alone. The word “repent” has taken on a lot of baggage along the way, too. When we allow “repent” to be equated with “turn or burn”, it is nothing more than an attempt to frighten the non-believer. We don’t want to frighten anybody, we want them to equate “repent” with a simple change of direction. If I find I am on the wrong path, road, or sidewalk and I change directions such that I’m now headed in the right direction, I have repented. There is nothing simpler. If I see a person walking down a path that ends in a cliff, I want them to repent because, if they don’t:
“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3
Depending on what translation you use, “repent” or “repentance” appears 70-80 times and it always means the same thing: “Hey, stop! Cliff ahead!”
Here’s another one: “That scared the hell out of me!” That doesn’t make sense when you think about it. Or there’s “hell-raiser”. How do you go about doing that? When you hear someone use one of these phrases, just ask them what they mean by that. It’s a great conversation starter.