Band-aids for bullet wounds

[Soapbox Preacher]

Being soft on sin is like treating a bullet wound with a band-aid.

[Bare_Truth]

Being soft on sin is like treating a bullet wound with a band-aid.

But isn't the real trick to then to know how to be as compassionate and gentle with the sinner as possible while helping them to overcome the sin. After all a few hundred rocks with the sinner standing up against a wall tends to stop the sinning but is not particularly good at making the sinner a Christian.

After all, though some bullet wounds require surgery, to extract the bullet and set the bone or suture the organs, a small caliber wound through muscle tissue may need little more than a cursory cleanig, sealing the wound and a course of antibiotics for good measure. The pain of the wound may be all the instruction needed to prevent a recurrence?

[Soapbox Preacher]

What I have in mind with that quote is when I hear of proclaimed Christians voicing their support for same sex marriage, abortion, what have you. What good is being done supporting something that can harm a person's soul? I think of when Jesus said that if your eye offend thee, pluck it out. A might serious condemnation of sin!
I am not saying that one has to offer a harsh rebuke in answer to a sin, but it is better to say something than to be quiet.
One example I just thought of with this idea is a sermon found on sermon audio called "Christian homosexual Lobby!" By Robert Rubino.

[Ramblinman]

What I have in mind with that quote is when I hear of proclaimed Christians voicing their support for same sex marriage, abortion, what have you. What good is being done supporting something that can harm a person's soul? I think of when Jesus said that if your eye offend thee, pluck it out. A might serious condemnation of sin!
I am not saying that one has to offer a harsh rebuke in answer to a sin, but it is better to say something than to be quiet.
One example I just thought of with this idea is a sermon found on sermon audio called "Christian homosexual Lobby!" By Robert Rubino.

Jesus told us to be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.
I don't start an argument in a place where I don't have a chance to lay a foundation for truth.
A lot of the people you are encountering have been so deep in sin that they have hardened their hearts and are dug in. You do better when you can get them alone without their friends to gang up on you.
If the Holy Spirit is working on his heart, it won't be drowned out by the rabble.
If a church has reached a point where it serves Satan more than the Lord, you may work better from the outside, but some folks have an avenue for working within a dying institution, saving souls until they too get tossed out.

Looks like the spirit of John the Baptist rests on your shoulders. Preach the word in season and out of season, in fashion and out of fashion.

[nakedpreacher]

I find that it is useful to remember that a person's real problem is not that they drink, smoke, swear, or fornicate/commit adultery; but rather that they need Jesus. Jesus words should ring in our ears every time we walk out into the world, "let him without sin cast the first stone", then the ones that follow will be on our lips, "neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. The wages of all sin is death, including ours. Jesus gave his life for us and the homosexual, because he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. I once heard my pastor accused of being "more gracious than God", I know that it is not true, and could never be true, oh that I could be accused of the same thing. We need to stop worrying so much about sin, for all have sinned, even us; rather we need to concentrate more upon the gift, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the Good news, The God Schpiel, the Gospel.
Naked Preacher

[Petros]

While recognizing that I for one do not guarantee to recognize all and only sin, I cannot see that supporting abortion, euthanasia, unconventional sexual linkages, or whatever is "being soft on sin".

Is not "soft on sin" saying "what X does is abominable but we should not interfere or say anything" - sometimes because then X and Y may stop us doing what we want to? Or am I misunderstanding?

[Bare_Truth]

.......I cannot see that supporting abortion, euthanasia, unconventional sexual linkages, or whatever is "being soft on sin".

Petros,
As I read the above it sounds llike your are saying that:
-- you cannot see supporting abortion -- as being soft on sin.
-- You cannot see supporting euthanasia -- as being soft on sin.
-- You cannot see supporting "unconventional sexual linkages -- as being soft on sin
Is that what you meant to convey? Because I see each of those as AT LEAST "being soft on sin" and perhaps even as abetting or even being complicit in by way of implicit approval.

It would seem that the civic duty of those who know sin for what it is, ought to behave as in:

1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

and as the following verses 2 through 7 and beyond show, this command was given to God's prophet to take to a people who thought that what they were doing was righteous but was actually far from it.

Is not "soft on sin" saying "what X does is abominable but we should not interfere or say anything" ....

Well I would certainly say that is one way to be soft on sin.

Or am I misunderstanding?

[Petros]

I am saying - or trying to, sometimes communication misses - in my experience, more often than not:

"soft on sin" and "positively endorsing sin" are different different thing.

Example:

Wee Coryl as teacher's aide in a primary classroom was horrified that policy was:

student will not do the lesson activity > teacher: "Very well, dear, sit quietly in the back and do whatever you like, just do not disturb the class."

that (to me) = soft on sin

At XYZ U, I was horrified that the policy was:

"You must not agree with the enemy even when what he says is true"

that (to me) = pushing sin

[Soapbox Preacher]

I also have Joel Osteen and the like in mind. Osteen is apprehensive about addressing sin, and dances around questions by Larry King in a certain interview.
If sin isn't a big deal, then why did Jesus have to die in our stead?

[Ramblinman]

I also have Joel Osteen and the like in mind. Osteen is apprehensive about addressing sin, and dances around questions by Larry King in a certain interview.
If sin isn't a big deal, then why did Jesus have to die in our stead?

We turn to Jesus for our model.
To those who have a contrite spirit, he was firm in insisting that they abandon their sinful ways, but he treated those who truly repented as if they had never sinned.
Have you ever had people try to hold your past over your head as if you still did the things you used to do?
That is NOT the way Jesus was.

To those who claimed that they successfully self-attained righteousness, he was a firebrand in his opposition to their sham righteousness.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Romans 11:22

I agree that can be no "come to Jesus" moment if we have not repented.
We cannot repent if we redefine sin in such a way that NOTHING is sin.
But repentance is in itself not a goal. It is simply a necessary step toward reconciliation with Jesus.

[nakedpreacher]

I am not saying that Joel Osteen is right, I certainly thought that he dropped the ball when Larry King handed him on a silver platter an opportunity to share the Gospel and he let it pass by. What he does has no bearing on my sharing of the gospel. I think that we should take, for our example, Jesus who preached the Kingdom of God (expressed in himself). My job is not to convict of sin, rather my job is to be the body of Christ (his Physical likeness on the earth, to do what he did, say what he said, love as he loved, and to think his thoughts after him). Once a person has accepted Christ, my job is to build them up as they grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification comes in his life, not at the threat of a stick which I hold over his head (meddling,Gossip in or shunning from the "church") but rather by the renewing of his mind as he is conformed to the likeness of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. We never see Jesus attack sinners, only the self righteous. Was he soft on sin, Certainly not; he allowed the full wrath of heaven to be directed upon sin, then he embraced that wrath in his own flesh. Jesus was brutal upon sin, but soft on sinners. Jesus came not to justify sin (this would be unjust), but rather to justify sinners (this is mercy). He calls us to follow him in this.
Naked Preacher

[nakedpreacher]

Bonhoeffer said "If we desire to eradicate sin, we should search for it where we are sure to find it, In ourselves.

[Soapbox Preacher]

That is what I was going for, going after the sin, not the sinner.
After what Jesus has done for us, we owe it to Him to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Taking up our crosses no matter the cost!

[nakedpreacher]

[Ramblinman]

Jesus told people to repent of their sins and "follow me" on numerous occasions. Oddly enough, the people he seemed to target his message to were painfully aware of their sins, but were needing some direction on what to do about it. Deeply engrained habits are like that, even shameful ones. There's a sense of being unable to escape.

The doctrine of repentance and baptism and God's forgiveness were welcome news to someone in this predicament.
And Jesus was also able to reach some people who had grown complacent, needed a little shaking up.

Jesus used his harshest words on those who were self-righteous. Few of this crowd came to the Lord, Paul of Tarsus a notable exception.