This may not be the best day to begin a blog, at least if I want to have any kind of regularity with entries--I leave in two days for a two week journey with my wife to Gautemala to visit my brother-in-law Antoine. That said, I did write somewhat of a diatribe this morning on repentance and then sent it to my pastor asking him to do a guest entry on his blog...hmmm....then the thought occurred to me...maybe I should just a create a blog myself. So here I am with my first entry!
During the course of the last year I have heard, on two occasions, repent defined as a new way of thinking. “To change one’s mind with regard to past or intended action, conduct, etc.” is one definition from Webster’s Dictionary. Far too often we confuse confession (“to acknowledge or own, as a fault or debt”) with repentance. While it is challenging to practice both confession and repentance, and while the two actions are related, repentance has more permanence to it. Confession is a one-time act. Of course, we can confess many things. However, until one repents of the fault that they have confessed they will continually find themselves confessing the same fault.
I have found repentance to be much more challenging than confession. Following are two examples from my own journey that demonstrate how this has played out in my life.
For many years I acknowledged (confessed) that I was much too greedy with my money. I readily acknowledged this to my wife. If I had to put a number on it I would say I was giving away about .2%, yes there is a period before that 2, of what I made each year. However, I had no intention to change my mind (repent) and increase this amount. My wife and I were at church one Sunday and it was the annual-giving sermon that began to bring me to repentance. I still remember our pastor’s one-liner from that day, “You don’t have to give 10%, you get to give 10%”; something he uses for many things: “You don’t have to read the Bible, you get to read the Bible”; “You don’t have to pray, you get to pray”, anyway you get picture. This is what initiated the act of repentance for me. My wife’s consistent coaxing also helped. The point here is not until I made a conscious decision to change (repent), not merely acknowledge (confess), did I draw closer to God. Without repentance a barrier will remain between you and God.
My second example further expands upon the challenge of repentance. My wife and I were able to go on a mission trip with our church to Haiti in May of 2010. Because water is scarce there, there was a motto for the toilet which I hope is self explanatory: “If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down.” This was yet another chance for repentance for both my wife and I. Upon our return to the US, we decided to bring the motto home with us. For at least the first month I was at best 25% at carrying this through. God knows how many times I would pee, then flush, then exclaim, “Aww man!!” It is 7 months later and while I am doing really well with our new motto there are still times when I will pee and then catch myself reaching for that knob to remove the yellow from the bowl. If we are going change our minds with regard to past actions it requires that our minds continually be engaged. This is incredibly challenging, but well worth the effort!
