Just a thought. “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - James 4:6. The money changers seemed to be prideful and arrogant not considering any respect for the venue they did their business in.
This was interesting! I wonder if the key nuance here is that there is sometimes widespread disagreement about what counts as sin. If everyone agreed on what a sin was and was not, then would the call to repentance be offensive anymore? It almost seems like everyone is calling everyone else to repent, but for different reasons.
Hey man! Thanks for reading and commenting. I don't think it's so much agreeing on what "a" sin is as much as it is acknowledging our fallen nature. I believe repentance is a posture of turning our hearts back to God from whom we've rebelled, and it's from that posture that we receive the forgiveness Jesus offers. Of course sin plays itself out in the attitudes have and actions we do which is where the disagreement you're describing comes in. To me, the real issue is that we focus on the "sins" rather than our rebellion in the first place. Is this wrong or is that wrong? That's the question we ask. But, I think the more important question to ask and the way we can live more and more like Jesus is to ask the positive question instead of the negative question and that's "Am I living my life the way I was intended to live it in relationship with Jesus?"
Just a thought. “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - James 4:6. The money changers seemed to be prideful and arrogant not considering any respect for the venue they did their business in.
This was interesting! I wonder if the key nuance here is that there is sometimes widespread disagreement about what counts as sin. If everyone agreed on what a sin was and was not, then would the call to repentance be offensive anymore? It almost seems like everyone is calling everyone else to repent, but for different reasons.
Hey man! Thanks for reading and commenting. I don't think it's so much agreeing on what "a" sin is as much as it is acknowledging our fallen nature. I believe repentance is a posture of turning our hearts back to God from whom we've rebelled, and it's from that posture that we receive the forgiveness Jesus offers. Of course sin plays itself out in the attitudes have and actions we do which is where the disagreement you're describing comes in. To me, the real issue is that we focus on the "sins" rather than our rebellion in the first place. Is this wrong or is that wrong? That's the question we ask. But, I think the more important question to ask and the way we can live more and more like Jesus is to ask the positive question instead of the negative question and that's "Am I living my life the way I was intended to live it in relationship with Jesus?"
I like the way you put that. I am surprised the positive question you are asking here gets labelled as hateful. Does that really happen?!