You are a sinner. I’m sorry to break it to you. I know it’s not politically correct. But it’s true. Many of your thoughts, actions, and deeds do not bring glory to God.
Neither do many of mine.
Truth demands that we call things the way they are. You and I are sinners.
We can live in denial of this fact. We can pretend like everything is ok. We can create a politically correct world in which we never tell the truth. But it won’t change the truth—we are sinners.
Whenever I say “You are a sinner,” what that means is you are just as bad as me.
It doesn’t mean you are worse than me. It doesn’t mean you are different from me. It actually means you are just like me.
You are a sinner in desperate need of God’s love and forgiveness. Yet we cannot experience his forgiveness unless we understand why we need it. And we cannot understand the power of his love unless we have experienced his forgiveness.
When I say “You are a sinner,” I am saying you are the very person which God loves, has sent His son to save, and you have every potential of experiencing heaven if you recognize your sin and turn to God for forgiveness.
When I say “You are a sinner,” I am not saying:
You are worse than me.
You are uniquely evil.
While some may use this phrase with these meanings, it is not my meaning and it clearly is not the meaning of the Bible.
There are two possible responses to the phrase “You are a sinner.”
One rejects the statement. They can’t believe one person would have the audacity to call them out for their actions. They claim the other is bigoted, old-fashioned, brain-washed, and mean.
The other accepts the statement. They know of their imperfections. They recognize their weaknesses. They confess their need for God.
Our lives are greatly determined by which we response we chose. God’s love is available to all, but many will never receive it because they will not recognize their need for it.
Whenever I say “You are a sinner,” you have every right to doubt me, debate me, or just plain ignore me. But you do not have a right to ignore what I mean and make me out to be saying something I’m not.
I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I’m not claiming any moral high ground. The worst I can possibly say about you is that you are as bad as me.
So how would I respond when someone tells me, “You are a sinner?” I would say, “I know. That’s what Jesus says about me too.”
For more, see:
Your thoughts spell out why Phil’s response to his suspension are so much better than his comments in the GQ article.
“I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior,” he said in a statement sent to FOX411.
“My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together.
“However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”
well said RJ
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Many people at my church think I am werd for having these exact same thoughts…Thank you Kevin – these blogs are really helpful
If you actually followed the Bible, you’d understand that it means all of these things.
“You are a sinner” is not saying “we are sinners.” It truly does mean that “you” are the sinner, not necessarily “me.” If you meant anything else, you would not say it like that. You believe that your creed makes you imputed not-a-sinner, and therefore not efectively a sinner.
Calling someone a sinner, according to Biblical doctrine, is also saying that they are so repulsive in the eyes of God, that they deserve to burn in hell forever and ever. This sort of judgement requires a crime beyond human capabilities. One has to be humanly UNLOVEABLE if they do something to deserve to burn forever in hell. One has to be UNIQUELY EVIL to deserve to be given eternal life in unending torment. When you say, “you are a sinner,” you are, if you follow Christianity, saying, “you deserve to burn in hell for all eternity,” because that’s what the Bible says sinners deserve: to be tortured forever. It is the most profound passage of judgement that can even be spoken.
“You are a sinner” is a passage of judgement beyond all comprehension. It’s only the disbelief in its severity that it doesn’t result in you receiving a haymaker. It’s worse than saying “you are a rapist,” “you are a murderer,” “you are a blasphemer,” because human laws cannot judge you further than death. “You are a sinner,” however, is saying that “you are infinitely offensive to God. You are a criminal to God more than anyone could ever be a criminal to another man. Only God could punish you them amount that you deserve to be punished. You don’t deserve to be rehabilitated, disciplined, or able to redeem yourself. You need to be perpetually locked in your criminality and punished without end. I should look down upon you 15 billion years from now, and see you still screaming in agony from how much God will torment you.”
Calling someone a sinner is beyond worse than the things you say above. It is infinitely greater a condemnation. It is INFINITE condemnation.