Godly Sorrow, Worldly Sorrow: Which One?

I’ve recently read through 2 Corinthians 7. It has been very timely. I find it curious that I’ve arrived at this place during this time in the life of our church. It has brought me great cause for searching myself to see if there be any offensive way.

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

What kind of sorrow is being stirred in our midst? Who is feeling sorrowful through this situation? It is my hope that any repentance demonstrated in the midst of this ordeal is not only genuine, but contagious. Perhaps we have too often characterized revival as something joyful. Perhaps we’ve been wrong all along. If revival begins with true repentance, revival will be utterly and deeply painful because no one enjoys true repentance. Too often true repentance has to be brought on by traumatic circumstances. Have we not been praying for revival? Have we not been singing songs asking for God to revive us? Is the situation we find ourselves in as a church the answer to our prayers and our longings? Will God break us so that he may start anew with us? If so, then God’s light will continue to expose the darkness of our hearts, and we will see more brokenness and more sorrow before we see the light and joy that comes in the morning. Only men and women of humility and contrition will endure to see the bounty of revival.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

There is, though, a worldly sorrow. How does this compare with godly sorrow? In their initial outward appearance, they will be identical. There will be expressions of remorse, there will be apologies, they may be tears, there will be self deprecation; the initial actions will be very similar. And for the Christian, there will even be pleas for forgiveness to God and to the people against whom the individual sinned. If godly sorrow and worldly sorrow are so similar, how can one discern the difference?

The difference will always be in the results. Godly sorrow produces repentance which leads to salvation. Life is the fruit of godly sorrow. The person undergoing godly sorrow will become more Christ-like through the process: more humble, more servant-like, more loving, etc. Worldly sorrow will never produce Christ-likeness. As a matter of fact, it will only lead to more sin – to death. Worldly sorrow produces no true repentance. It only produces a remorse of being caught. The fruit of worldly sorrow may affect a behavioral change, but there isn’t an ounce of heart change, and more sin is inevitable. It may manifest itself in self-hatred, depression, condemnation, anger, bitterness, but no Christ-likeness.

So what do we do when someone says they have repented? We wait and watch. The only thing we can do is encourage them in their professed repentance, try to shepherd them and wait for the fruit of their sorrow to come to light. It is a heart matter, and matters of the heart are only revealed in the harvest of fruit.

2 Corinthians 6:1-4

Here’s another journal entry from this week . . .

Journal Entry: May 12, 2009, 6:45 AM

“1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, In a favorable time I listened to you,and in a day of salvation I have helped you.Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:”

What does it mean to receive God’s grace in vain? First of all, this is a message, I believe, addressed to believers. It is to those who have received God’s grace. To receive his grace in vain then has application to those who have been born again. It must be actions which nullify the power of the gospel in the individual and in the church. It is those actions which would cause God’s efforts in saving us to appear futile. Dissensions, factions, gossip, slander, adultery, strife, murder, envy: everything which Paul has admonished the Corinthians to expel from their midst.

My mind goes to the difficulties we are experiencing in the final days of our church building’s construction. God has been gracious to us throughout this process. Yet I, and others, sense an undercurrent here which could threaten to sweep us away and make all of God’s graciousness through this entire journey for naught. I personally only know a little bit. I do not know every detail of what is awry. But there is a tension in the air that is tighter than a snare drum. All I can do at this moment is cry out to Jesus to loosen the strain upon our emotions and to make things right. I know this: the deeds done in secret will be brought to light. If there has been any wrong-doing, the Holy Spirit will make it known. Judgment always begins with God’s people. And God will purify his church if there exists any reason to purify. It will be fearful, but it is totally avoidable if all is confessed and all is repented of willingly. But I am speaking to the air because I don’t know anything for sure. I just trust my discernment that something isn’t right. Willing confession and repentance will bring honor to God and prove his grace to not be in vain.

Now back to the verses. Today is the favorable time to repent. Today is the day of God’s favor. The urgency to respond to the Holy Spirit cannot be underestimated. True, this verse speaks of salvation and believing today, however the application is also to the killing of the flesh and our sanctification. The longer we resist the Holy Spirit, the deeper we plunge ourselves into callousness and hardness of heart. The maintaining of short lists with God keeps our hearts sensitive to conviction. Sin is toxic and it poisons you and everyone with whom we love and have relations. Even if it is an unseen sin there are still spiritual consequences with everyone in your life. So now not only have you sinned, then sinned again by resisting the Holy Spirit, but you sin again by bringing toxicity to those around you. YUCK! Today is the day to repent, for your sake, for the sake of Christ’s glory, and for the sake of the spiritual health of everyone surrounding you.

Paul said they put no obstacle in the way of people repenting. He added no difficult, extra requirements, he presented no moral objections to the way he conducted his ministry and his life. He made sure that no one could look at his life, ministry, or his message and make an objection. We too should be careful to ensure that no one can raise a legitimate objection against us, giving them reason to discount our message. This does not imply perfection, but rather along with striving to live holy, when we do fail, there is quick – if not immediate – confession, admission of wrong-doing, repentance, and where necessary, restitution. So long as we practice this, people who do raise objections will have no solid biblical ground upon which to accuse us. So then, even in our imperfections, God will glorify himself.

At times Paul uses the word “commend.” It doesn’t mean congratulate like we may believe it to mean. Often we use the word “commend” in a context of congratulating someone. That isn’t what it means here. The word “commend” really means “to present.” So when we say we commend something, we are saying we present something to you. Therefore when Paul says, “we commend ourselves in every way,” he means that they have went to great lengths to present themselves to them in such a way that there would be no obstacle in themselves which would prevent them from believing and repenting. In other words, they have gone through hell to present the gospel to them in a way which would keep the focus squarely on Jesus Christ and him crucified and raised. What lengths do we go through to ensure that the sin in our lives does not corrupt the message of the gospel? It is not legalistic perfection we seek, but rather a loving pursuit of holiness which is quick to confess, quick to repent, and easy to convict. (Ease of conviction meaning the Holy Spirit needs only offer gently correction instead of earth shattering rebuke.)

Why Are We So Messed Up?

This weekend I received some troubling news concerning some one I care about deeply. I won’t go into the details of the situation in this venue, but suffice it to say that this is the latest in a long series of “troubling” news reports, and maybe the most hurtful. It has really caused me to think about why we make the decisions we make. Here’s what I’ve been pondering.

The more I have thought about this, the more I see it in people’s lives, the more I believe it is true. Sin leads to more sin. Bad decisions lead to more bad decisions. Poor understanding only degrades into worse understanding. Scripture clearly teaches this in Romans chapter one. When an individual decides to ignore God, to ignore repentance, the course of his or her life only goes from sin to sin, from bad choice to bad choice. And until you recognize the downward spiral you are in, you won’t escape it.

This is true for everyone, even for believers. I know Romans one is describing the actions of a person who rejects God, and not believers. However, all believers still struggle with the vestiges of sin, even though we are new creations in Christ. Sin still has its seductive attraction for believers and believers are no less susceptible to sin than lost people. Therefore, we too can become entangled in sin, and even deeply so.

What makes it worse when a born again person strays is that unlike the lost person, he or she is in willful rebellion against the One who saved them. Lost people don’t willfully rebel. They cannot choose any other way to live. Saints, though, choose to rebel on a daily basis. We can choose righteous living because the Holy Spirit enables us to live righteously.

So how do we get out of it? How do we recognize when we are in a spiral? The sneaky thing about sin is that it is most deceitful. Many times we enter the spiral without recognizing we’ve entered. Sin doesn’t usually present itself to us as outright rebellion. Sometimes it tempts us overtly. But many times it appeals to our hurts and wounds as a quick fix. And I think it is here, where our hurts and wounds lie, that sin finds the easiest door to open. Anything that will help us to feel better faster is what we tend to pursue. But the real answer is not a quick fix.

At least in my life, I’ve noticed that God most often is methodical and gradual about changing me. It’s almost as if He goes slow so I will take note of the ugliness of my sin as He removes it. And make no mistake, almost always, slow is painful. So for me to quick fix my pain with something else is essentially short circuiting what God intends to do. And you could say that what might have taken God six months, turns into two or three years of painful molding; all because I won’t allow Him to do His work in me in His way and in His timing.

So the question we all need to ask ourselves is, “What is my quick fix?” Is your quick fix food? Is your quick fix money? Is your quick fix sex? The person I mentioned at the beginning of this entry thinks that romantic relationships will bring the pain and dissatisfaction to an end. Failed relationship after failed relationship, each one worse than the last. And the last one was physically abusive. When will the spiral end?

For those of us who are born again, the spiral ends when we stop looking to the pleasures of the world for satisfaction. Jesus Christ is our greatest satisfaction and until we recognize Him as that, Jesus will continue to be one priority among many in our lives, but never what He should be – our ultimate, all satisfying, all powerful, all consuming King, Savior, and Friend.

For the person who has never been born again the spiral ends when you recognize that you have offended a Holy God, and need to be reconciled to Him. And He provided a way for you to be reconciled to Him that gives you all the benefits of Heaven at His expense. Jesus Christ died, and suffered the wrath that you deserved to endure for all eternity, on the cross. Believe in Him, receive the gift of forgiveness God offers you through Jesus, and be born again. Your spiral will never cease until you do this one thing.

One more thing. The fact is that many of us have made so many bad decisions upon bad decisions that our lives have actually spiraled out of control. When you make the decision to turn about and repent, the inertia of your life will continue to push against you. Consequences may never be lifted. But God gives grace to the humble. Repentance is an act of humility. God will extend grace to you in those moments. They will keep you afloat in the whirlpool. Ultimately, God will finish the good work He begins in you when you are born again. The sum of your life is not defined by your mistakes. It is defined by God’s grace and how He still wins in spite of our best efforts to cause Him to fail. In the end, He is left standing, and what we were in the beginning is lost to eternity because He has made us like Jesus.

My heart many times wants to explode out of my chest because I so badly want people to understand the Truth. I hope that this small burst of passion bodes well with you.