Bible Text: Proverbs 14:12 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12

When gangster Mickey Cohen heard Billy Graham preach, he was favorably impressed and considered becoming a Christian. Shortly after, a friend pressed Revelation 3:20 upon Cohen where Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock,” and Cohen made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ; but later Cohen rebuked his friend saying, “You did not tell me that I would have to give up my work!” meaning racketeering. “You did not tell me I would have to give up my friends!” meaning his gangster associates.

Cohen had heard of a popular cowboy who had become a Christian, and he knew of an actress who had just become a Christian, so he reasoned, “Why not a Christian gangster?” Or, could I ask, “Why not Christian prostitutes?” or “Christian pornographers?” Though I have heard both postulated, I’ll tell you why not. Because the descriptions are an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms. Prostitution, pornography, and racketeering are the very antithesis of Christian experience and conduct. Water and oil mix better than Christianity and social evils.

In an article entitled, “Playing the Good News Melody Off-key,” Dr. J. Edwin Orr, an Oxford scholar who earned at least three theological degrees, charges that the reason so many people profess to be Christians, yet have never experienced changes in conduct, is that the message which most evangelicals expound is defective. It contains only the element of faith–believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but not repentance–a turning from sin to salvation.

Orr says, “The fact is, repentance is a missing note in much modern evangelism. The appeal is not for repentance, but for enlistment. Birth defects are not only medical, but also spiritual. Many ills of the Christian life are due to handicapped beginnings. Too many people are preaching a warped or truncated gospel, and spiritual birth defects are the inevitable result.”

Is Dr. Orr on target, or is he merely nit-picking? Many, many indications confirm the analysis of this thoughtful scholar. A major newspaper observed that more people profess to be born-again Christians than ever before, yet the number of self-pronounced Christians has had no observable effect on robbery, rape, pornography, or a host of other social evils. Though the article did not mention it, I have been deeply disturbed as I have observed the rate of broken homes is little different in the Christian community from what it is in the secular world.

It is a defective Gospel that only stresses faith and ignores the impact of repentance, which is a turning about, a change of mind which demands a change of conduct. Repentance involves a deep sorrow for sin and for wrongdoing, not a sorrow that you were caught. It involves a change of conduct because the words, “I forgive you,” are followed by these: “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

Christianity has become a placebo, a sugarcoated pill that enables you to overcome your guilt and fear, your hang-ups and shortcomings and helps you to feel good about yourself. It has become a status achievement, a social identification that puts you in good company. In the process of establishing an acceptable identification Christians have lost a sense of the reality of sin and its consequences, along with the loss of a realization of the holiness of God. Yes, Mickey Cohen had the right to feel short-changed; he only got half of the message.

Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 7