Years ago, I began to notice that the call to repentance was central to the preaching, discipling and evangelizing in the New Testament, and, I began to point out the sad truth that a call for repentance is absent from the teaching and preaching of the Western church (and, specifically, among the leaders and people of the CGGC, with which I am affiliated).
What immediately follows is a severely abridged summary of what I discovered in the New Testament in regard to repentance:
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Mt. 3:1-2)
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Mt. 4:17)
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. (Mt. 11:20)
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Mt. 21:32)
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk. 1:14-15)
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. . .. They went out and preached that people should repent. (Mk. 6:7 and 12)
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Lk. 5:31-32)
(Jesus) told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Lk. 24:46-48)
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
When Peter saw this, he said to them:..."Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus." (Acts 3:12a, 19-20)
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:38)
When they arrived, (Paul) said to them:..."I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus." (Acts 20:18a and 21)
...now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Cor. 7:9-10)
I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. (Rev. 2:21-22)
(As I said, this summary is severely abridged. But, it characterizes the messages and ministries of John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, John the Apostle and Paul.)
From the moment John the Baptist began to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah through the time John the Apostle wrote down the words Jesus dictated to him to be sent to the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3, the message of the New Testament is that the first action in loving God, obeying Him and living in righteousness is to repent.
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Shortly after I became a preacher of repentance, a friend asked me the question that is the title of this post:
What is repentance?
At the time, I answered him with what I have come to believe was a lame and lifeless answer. Since that time, I have been humiliated, even haunted, by the realization that I am convinced that repentance is necessary if a man or woman is to become a disciple of Jesus, yet I don't know, precisely, what repentance is.
So, what is repentance?
I do have an answer today, however, my answer remains provisional and developing.
Here are some pieces of an academic, theologically-oriented and inadequate answer:
- Repentance is essential for salvation.
- It must be both an ongoing attitude of heart yet it also involves specific acts set in specific places and times.
- It is the fruit of godly sorrow.
- It produces fruit in human action.
- The call for it among all people without exception is the Gospels' way of teaching that all of us have sinned and need a savior.
After much study and meditation, I have come to think of repentance when thought of generically, not theologically, as little more than to think, with passion and conviction, the heart-rending thought:
"I am naturally flawed and I must change my ways!"Repentance itself is not change. It is the conviction: I am wrong and I must change.
Repentance is the way of thinking about self --i.e., it is the philosophical point of view-- that fuels the attitude of heart that is necessary for change to become a reality in a person's life.
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One final observation--as far as following Jesus is concerned:
I believe that the greatest danger posed to the Western church is that it follows the values of a shepherd-dominated leadership culture.
By virtue of the manner in which the Holy Spirit gifts shepherds, shepherds will always resist the intense, negative, powerful and painful emotion--as Paul calls it, the "godly sorrow"--that leads a soul to repent.
Paul says that it is that 'godly sorrow (which) produces a repentance that leads to salvation.'
Shepherds, by their calling and spiritual gift, bring comfort to those in pain. They, in the spirit, would quell the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and produces salvation. In fact, quell godly sorrow is what they often do.
Therefore, I believe that repentance will never happen with shepherds and their values dominating the church.
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The role of shepherds in APEST, is to provide the care and nurture and comfort and love and grace and compassion that creates Christian community. Community in the Body of Christ is not possible without shepherds.
According to Ephesians 2, however, the ministry of shepherds comes after.
It come after, humanly speaking, the ministry of prophets and apostles. It is through the gifts the Spirit gives to apostles and prophets that a person experiences the godly sorrow that produces repentance.
Because this is true, a person who has not yet repented should be isolated from unfettered shepherd influence until godly sorrow has produced the repentance that leads to salvation to the point, as Paul says, there is "no regret!"
As long as shepherd values supersede APEST in the Western church, it is a well-document historical fact, that the church will not call sinners to repent.
The church must, very gently, put the people of our shepherd-dominated leadership culture into roles subservient to the work of apostles and prophets.
We must repent.
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