I overheard a preacher once, he said, “People are becoming too comfortable with sin in the church, and this is because we are no longer teaching people about sin and its consequences. Everybody has become slack, and there is no fear of God anymore. People are just doing whatever they want. Then he went on to give an example of a member of his church who did something and was not conscience-stricken about it. He said he could never do the same thing because he knew it was a sin, and if he mistakenly did such, he would be crying and begging Gid for forgiveness of sin.”
To this preacher, he has said the right things
Many Christians today will also agree with him, but he is wrong
Sin does not need to be taught because the consciousness of sin is immediate and universal
When Cain killed Abel, he knew he had done the wrong thing all by himself
He didn’t need anybody to call him and say, “Cain, I wish I had taught you that it is a bad thing to kill Abel. Now you have killed him unknowingly. I know if I had taught you very well, you would not have killed him.”
Remember when Laban chased down Jacob and his company and accused him of stealing an idol from his house. The Bible said the person who stole the idol was Rachael and she did so without Jacob’s knowledge. As soon as Laban tracked down the company and began to have a conversation with Jacob, Rachael quickly took the Idol, sat on it, and pretended she was having her period so that none of the men or their servants could come into her tent to search it. Rachael had stolen something that belonged to Laban, and she successfully prevented herself from being caught. This shows she was aware of what she did and she still did it anyway.
The consequences of stealing the idol were later pronounced upon her by her husband, unknowingly. Her husband said whoever stole the idol will die, and a few months later, Rachael died while giving birth to Benjamin.
My point is, Rachael knew what she did was wrong.
The consciousness of sin is universal
C.S. Lewis puts it this way “We may disagree with each other according to our cultures and religions on how many wives or husbands a person can have, but we all agree that it is wrong for someone to sleep with another person without the person’s permission or for someone we regard as our spouse to sleep with someone else without our knowledge or permission”
There is no culture or religion in the world that permits someone to take what does not belong to them or tell lies or look down on others or kill others.
In every society, regardless of what religion they practise, they have laws that help citizens to live within the protection of their individual rights which did not come from God but they are universal
Christians talk about the ten commandments, but when we look into the societies of the whole world, regardless of their religion, they all somehow came up with the ten commandments and even much more than it by themselves
The wages of sin in some religions and cultures are so barbaric that most Christians cringe when they watch it
We saw religions that chop off the hand of thieves and behead or burn blasphemers alive, or permit the killing or castration of an adulterer
To mankind, sin needs no introduction or reinforcement
Adam did not need to be told what he had done and its consequences when he ate the forbidden fruit
In the same way, children, when they are beginning to gain consciousness, would do the wrong thing and run or hide once they realised that their action has upset their parent
When you look at the way Jesus taught, we will learn a thing or two about how to teach the right thing as believers, take a look at His Sermon on the Mount…
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Pay attention to the emphasis on right action and the attached blessings as listed by Jesus.
He didn’t say “The proud shall go to hell, those who refuse to mourn with others are wicked, the haughty shall be hated by everybody, if you don’t hunger and thirst for righteousness you shall be empty, if you are not pure in heart you shall see only the devil, if you cause trouble everyday you will not be known for peace etc”
He didn’t emphasize wrong actions; he affirmed right actions
Jesus didn’t teach sin; he taught righteousness and the blessings attached to righteousness.
Many parents and pastors make this mistake; they want people to do the right thing, but they teach them the wrong thing.
If you want people to walk in righteousness, teach them righteousness and the blessings that come with it
Most people teach about sin and its consequences with the hope that this will make people do the right thing. That was the Moses model, and it failed woefully over every generation of Israelites who were raised according to that model until Jesus came.
Moses gave the Israelites the law, which was full of “Thou shalt nots,” and the children of Israel heard it, read it, memorized it, and then they did everything the law said they should not do. Thousands of them perished right from the moment they began to learn the law, and they continued to perish until Jesus came and died for our sins.
If Jesus had died for our sins and taken them away, why are we still teaching “sin”?
Apostle said, “Shall we do evil that good may come?”
Some pastors preach about the devil, demons, witchcraft, covens, works of darkness, curses, death and destruction all the time thinking this makes them put the fear of God and the consciousness of evil and the devil in the hearts of their members. They are unaware that by teaching these things they open up the imagination of their members to all sorts of morbid and concorted images which stir them to afflictions.
Pastors should preach about God, heaven, sainthood, the light, angels, the throne of grace, blessings, the anointing, power, authority of the believers, Zion, the culture of heaven, walking in the fullness of Christ and other new life realities. When we do this, we open the imagination of believers to all the advantages they have in Christ and stir them towards victory in all their endeavours
Garbage in, garbage out
Glory in, Glory out
What we input in people determines what we get out of them!
We cannot teach sin so that we can gain righteousness. Nobody plants corn to harvest yams. You plant what you want to harvest. We must teach believers righteousness at all times because this is who they have become in Christ Jesus.
-GSW-
PS: This event is tomorrow in Lagos, come and drink of this fountain of life