65 thoughts on “Preaching About Sin”

  1. Excellent point about making up sins! I’ve heard more preaching on stuff that was nothing more than the pastor’s personal preferences not on what the Bible actually calls sin.

  3. It’s interesting how fundies sing about how all their sins are gone because of the cross, and then turn around and preach about all the sin that they need to get rid of to get right with God 🙄

    2. You hit the nail on head. If you are a fundy, all of your sins are never truly expunged. When you “accept Christ” (another fundy euphamism…nowhere in the Bible does it say to “accept” Christ – it says BELIEVE), that only washes away your previous sins. In order to keep yourself in good standing, you must constantly rush to the altar to confess your current sins and transgression against the MOG. For as much as fundies abhor Romanism, this is a first-cousin to the sacrament of confession…only it is the MOG, not a priest, that delivers absolution. And penance takes the form of submitting to the requirements of the MOG.

      1. It does use the word ‘received’ in John chapter 1. However, it links that word with ‘believe’ as well. John seems to think they are interchangeable.

        1. Fundyfascinated – Good point. I do, however, think that while “received” and “believe” may be interchangable (perhaps “inter-related” is a better word) in this instance, “accept” – especially in the way fundies use the term – has a different connotation. In any event, I think we are on the same page.

    3. Buried in the deepest sea;
      Yes, that’s good enough for me.

      Extra credit if you know that song 🙂 It popped into my head while reading co_heir’s comment

      1. *going up the scale* I shall live eternally – praise God! My sins are G-O-N-E — gone!

  4. I thought your soul is eternal. Such that your soul will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

    SFL: Not letting the meanings of words or bad theology get in the way of a sermon illustration or tract.

    2. I hate defending these things, but I suppose they could mean “kill” in the sense that “death” is used sometimes in the Bible, to mean separation from God rather than physical (or… soul-ical?) death.

      But I don’t know that the word “kill” is used in the Bible for that, and certainly not in the same way as cancer killing the body. So I -may be- probably am giving them more credit than they’re due!

      1. Annie – Your two paragraphs have more theological insight than your typical fundy sermon does. 😆

    3. That – or he could have the typical fundy view of the trichotomy of man, where the spirit is eternal, and the soul is just the “mind, will, and emotions” of a person. Then he could say killing is something akin to what cancer does to the body (it also allows for lots of triangle illustrations). But then again I doubt that the MOG has thought much about it.

    4. This is a common argument, though this placard seems to be poorly done and focuses on the MoG instead of what the Bible of Jesus says.

      Todd Friel of Wretched – definitely not a fundy – uses a version of it here, which is not nearly as weird.

      http://youtu.be/TyPj6VHK1zw

  5. There are degrees of intellect for all people, including preachers!

    Some come up with great sermons and then you have the not so brilliant preachers, the ones who’s common sense is not so sensible… It’s from those that you get insensitive sermons that compare the horrors of cancer – that is not a choice of an individual – to the sin of man – which is a choice. The comparison is inappropriate. There are too many other examples to draw from or “make-up”, as we know those preachers often push the truth on their examples and stories that they embellish to tug at the congregations’ emotions! ~As though the truth were not enough under the influence of the Holy Spirit?

    ~~~Heart 😕

  6. If a graphic designer told you that your artistic skills sucked…WOULD YOU TRY TO IMPROVE THEM?

    1. Not if you’re a fundy! Because clearly the graphic designer would be sent of the devil to obstruct the glorious work of Gid.

  7. Love the pic for the pastor; stern look, finger-wagging-in-your-face. For these people, the only way for the pastor to minister to his flock is to yell at them like some psychopathic nut. That’s the ministry of a pastor. Sure.

    1. Interestingly, MOP (ministry of a pastor) also stands for ministry of pain. It’s a conspiracy!

    2. I like the idea of a Shepard screaming at a flock of sheep to get them to drink some water or graze. That gives me a good image of how ridiculous these types are.

  8. 2 points:

    1. When asking a question it is the general practice to end the sentence with a question mark not an exclamation point.

    2. Sin is something you do. Cancer is something that happens to you. I doubt anyone has willfully chosen cancer.

  9. Everyone needs an ole gray haired preacher to shake their finger at them every once in a while and tell them they are wrong. If anyone ever tells you your preacher is wrong, you give them a right hand knuckle sandwich in Jesus name.

    And they called it…. Fundie Love

  10. What if the doctor told you you had cancer and then kept telling you and telling you and telling you and telling you?

    Then what if you went to a different doctor, who said, “Yes, you have cancer, but it’s operable,” and then he operated and then you were cancer free! And you could live your life in joy, knowing you were saved from the ravages of a terrible disease? What good news!!!!

    Meanwhile, the first doctor just keeps yelling about cancer. And he calls freckles cancer and pimples cancer and scars cancer and sunburns cancer. And he tries to make you feel bad about the cancer you used to have.

    1. See, now this is exactly what I meant! Intelligence giving an example that makes sense without offense, or stupidity for that matter!

      Pastor’s Wife, your example brings out the ridiculous habits of the Fundy way and how it, so completely, goes against God’s true forgiveness and Christ’s sacrifice!

      KUDOS and thank you!

      ~~~Heart 🙂

  11. Methinks the pulpit reminds me of Disney’s “Pinocchio.” And much like “Pinocchio” church has become a morality play seeing how they both preach against, smoking, pool halls, and drinking.

    The pastor sees himself as Jiminy Cricket to his sheeple’s Pinocchio. He is the congregation’s conscience and all he sees are long noses, big ears and tails from his lofty perch.

  12. I saw this on facebook this morning. It definitely reflected a lot of the IFB experience, sadly:

    ‎”Spend time fretting about all the problems of sin and worldliness, and you may become just as sinful and worldly as those things. Spend time focusing on Jesus and all His goodness, grace, and love, and you’ll start to become like Him. Maybe without even knowing it.” -Eric Pazdziora

  14. Duh, Captain Obvious!

    The problem is that most of those who are eager to tell me all about my sins don’t seem to think they have any. I really would rather not hear someone tell me all about the sins they have conquered through their own amazing spirituality and so now they can rant and rave at all of the great unwashed about it.

    If the gospel had actually reached many of these folks, they would be humbled, not exalted.

  16. We don’t “have” sin. We “are” sinners. Again, this shows the fundamentalist presupposition that we are somehow good or neutral, and sin is an external thing trying to get in instead of an internal thing trying to get out.

      1. so are you saying then that you can sin as much as you like because one can always ask for forgiveness????

        1. Doh!

          Your comment or question is one that has been time and again been offered up for debate, but I’ve concluded that, if one is truly in a ‘saved’ relationship with God, then, one’s actions would be that of wanting to honor, please, and respect the very One Who’s grace has forgiven you from the beginning until the end of time!

          Would you not agree?

          ~~~Heart 😀

        2. Very good! You were intending to quote Paul, right?

          Romans 6:1-2 (please read ch.5 and the rest of 6 for context, but I’ll just quote the 2)

          “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

          Sure, you can keep sinning and rely on the forgiveness in Christ, legally, but that’s not the point of the forgiveness! “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.” Gal 5:1

        3. To quote St. Paul when he appeared to paint himself into this very logical corner: “God forbid!” It’s a concise response. I like it.

    2. Not only this, but it seems that so many fundy preachers treat salvation like an external “thing” rather than a positional relationship before God. Instead of Christ completing the work of salvation on the cross, he wraps it up in a package which we then have to open. In the fundy mindset, we help God complete salvation in us by opening the package by walking an aisle and kneeling at an altar. Though they would claim this is “receiving an gift” and not a work, a fuller picture of their theology shines the light on the truth of their pseudo-pelagian beliefs.

  17. Seems to me that the creators of his poster would want you to focus on the Mog. They love to make it all about themselves “preaching hard”, rather than redirect their congregation/poster to the Gospel that will save their souls.

  18. Short accounts people!
    Short accounts!
    Because we all know that that we will be held accountable for every sin that is not confessed and under the blood of Jesus. The Pastor is making sure his people keep short accounts with God so they can get the maximum blessing allowed by law. 😯 😉

    1. Yeah, that whole “sort accounts” and “doing business with God” completely manages to miss the bold implications of the tearing of the curtain (and then the destruction of the whole shebang. Once for all means ONCE FOR ALL.

  19. Would anybody go to a doctor who had an ‘honorary doctorate’ in oncology? Just trying to keep with the spirit of the tract…

  22. This reminds me of something I’ve heard that is supposed to “encourage” us to share our faith:

    “If you had the cure for cancer, you’d tell everyone, right? Well, we have the cure for sin, so why aren’t we telling anyone?” Or something along those lines.

  23. For some reason I have the Georgia Satellites’ song in my head since this was posted the other day.

    See, I wanted to be a part and I wanted to be in
    And that’s when he started preachin’ about soul love, started preachin’ about Sin
    I said, “preacher, I’ll stand with ya for the rest of my life”
    He said, “Then No huggy, no kissy, no more with your wife”

    My honey, my baby, she put my love upon the shelf
    They said, “You don’t have a wife, and keep your hands to yourself”

    *ode to Sugar Daddy Jack

  24. Dear Pastor:

    What if a congregant told you that your preaching is cancerous? What if Jesus agreed?

    Christian Socialist

  26. Reminded of a Calvin Coolidge quote: He had gone to church alone, and on his return his wife asked, “What was the sermon about?”
    “Sin.”
    “What did the pastor say about sin?”
    “He was against it.”
    Short and to the point. 😀

  27. “sin kills the soul.”

    The soul in sin is dead already. It’s not that the individual begins with a good and perfect soul that gets poisoned with sin and kills it. No, everyone’s soul is separated from God and dead in trespass and sin. More sin doesn’t make it more dead.

    Grace, gives life and life given by grace cannot be killed by sin. Paul spoke to that fact specifically in Romans.

Comments are closed.