In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul admonishes Christians, “In regards to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults”.
This is a great statement, because it comes from a man who described himself as “chief among sinners”. Paul was complicit in the religious persecution and murder of Christians before seeing the light. He was no “infant in evil”. Unfortunately, like Paul, I am not an “infant in evil”. I am a high achiever with many years of experience.
Some revivalist preachers share many scandalous details of their sinful pasts, presumably as a way to build rapport and credibility with potential converts. And deliverance is the central story of Christianity. But it’s easy to cross a line here, and to use salacious details to manipulate people’s emotions. How do we know how much to share? Where do we draw the line?
Haggadah should be our model. We know that the Egyptian captivity was, in part, a bondage to sensuality. But instead of maintaining a record of the salacious details, the Bible records only an admonition to forget those things. An admonition to leave them behind and not look back. Likewise, Paul only mentions his sinful resume obliquely, in order to “count it all as loss”. Being an experienced sinner is not an asset to Christianity.
No Comments