The #shoutyourabortion campaign has been going strong for a few days now, and there have been lots of posts floating around on the internet with thoughts from every side. I am not writing today about abortion (because you can read past, non-current event posts whenever you want); instead, I am writing about sin, and hopefully I’m writing about sin from two separate perspectives.

PERSPECTIVE ONE

I have shouted my sin before.

No, my sin is not the sin of shedding innocent blood, but some of my sins are also listed in that group of abominations (Prov. 6:16-19). I’ve had a lying tongue. I’ve had a proud look. I’ve had a heart that was wicked and a heart that sowed discord. And in a few of those moments, I shouted my sin. I didn’t care who was looking! I had been betrayed/mocked/neglected by mankind – sometimes Christian-kind –  and I didn’t care who knew that I was going to make life miserable for others.

Thankfully, the Lord blessed me with time to repent. I was given days and weeks and years to turn from my sins and give my life to Jesus. But now, though the stain of sin is gone, the remembrance is still there. And I ache that I ever hurt my God. I am ashamed that I ever stood in direct opposition with the One who gave His own life for me. I so regret every thing, every word, every thought, that has gone against His will. I especially regret the public things…the things other people saw or heard or did with me. I hate that I ever let Satan win a battle; that I let him deceive me into shouting my sin instead of shrinking in shame.

But thanks be to our gracious God, who is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), for forgiving any sin we confess before Him; any sin committed by our old man whom we choose to bury in baptism with Jesus. While our iniquities may separate us from Him (Isaiah 59:2), Jesus’ blood brings us near and washes us white as snow. Not mostly white. Not white except for the heinous sin of abortion. Completely, wholly white.

Know this: no matter what kind of sin you’ve been proud of, what kind of sin you’ve ever committed, no sin is bigger than God’s forgiveness. He gave His only Son so that you could go to heaven. He watched that Son die on the cross…so much blood, so much anguish…He watched and didn’t intervene just so you could go to heaven. Whatever you’ve done, God wants to forgive it. But to receive forgiveness, you must seek forgiveness— through changing the way you think about sin (repentance) and by completely obeying God’s will for your life. If you have any questions on how to do that — on how to relieve your life of the guilt of sin, please contact me. I’ve been where you are. And thanks be to our God that I’m free from those shackles of sin.

PERSPECTIVE TWO

You have shouted your sin before.

Maybe you disagree, but therein lies the problem, right? 1 John 1:8 says that if we say we have no sin, we are liars and truth does not exist within us. Sometimes, I think Christians who have been Christians for an extended period of time forget what life was like pre-Christ. If you have forgotten, re-read Ephesians 2. We of all people should be able to empathize with these people who are still out in the world…who are still out shouting their sin. We should look at them and pity them. We should look at them and weep for them. We shouldn’t look at them and berate them or make fun of them, even if we are “right” in our thinking about a certain sin.

Here’s why:

The harshest words Jesus ever used in the New Testament were used toward Pharisees –  Read: Religious people. When the sinners came to him having been prostitutes, adulteresses, greedy… Jesus sat and ate with them. He taught them. He forgave them. He served them. When the “religious” looked on, wanting to call out the people’s nasty, awful sins, Jesus would respond, “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” or “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Why do we excuse ourselves from having Christ-like attitudes toward those in sin? Yes, absolutely, without a doubt, abortion is evil. God hates it. Because God hates it, we as His people hate it. But we as His people don’t get to hate people who have abortions. We don’t even get to hate people who are glad they had abortions. We don’t get to make fun of them. Instead, we pity them. We love them. We reach out to try to heal them through Jesus’ love.

Those who are caught up in sin are those who are the most likely to be broken by that sin and turn to the only One who can heal them. When Jesus was teaching, it is said that “the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him” (Luke 15:1). When that happened, the Pharisees were mad. They didn’t like the Jesus who would associate with sinners, yet that’s exactly who Jesus is. And last time I checked, our minds are supposed to be like Jesus’ mind. Our steps are to be like Jesus’ steps.

Let’s be careful that those of us who have received the precious blood of Jesus don’t get so puffed up that we somehow act as thought we deserve that blood. Let’s not act as though we’re above sinning. Instead, let’s show people that even though we sin, the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us as we seek to walk like Him (1 John 1:7).

Whatever camp you find yourself in, either shouting sin presently or being more high-minded than Christ-minded, know that God has made a way for you. You can escape the death penalty that your sin has incurred (Romans 6:23), by contacting the blood of Jesus that will make you whole…and heaven-bound.