I used to know a guy, let’s call him Steve. Steve professes to be a Christian. He goes to church regularly and seems to value his identity as a Christian at least to some degree. I used to have quite a few conversations with Steve about dating and girls. I mean, what else are two guys without that much in common and a big generational divide between them supposed to talk about?
Steve claimed to have been quite the ladies’ man in his college days. You know, the jock type that likes to make his way around town. Now, Steve loved talking about these “good ol’ days.” The parties he used to go to. Being part of the in-crowd. And, of course, all the girls he used to sleep around with. If his testimony is to be trusted, there were quite a few lookers in the bunch. And Steve loved every minute of it.
Right now, that story isn’t too far removed from a lot of Christian’s personal testimonies. A lot of people go through the wild college days, before coming to realize that such a life is incompatible with the call of Christ. And, I’m sure not one to talk, my former dating days were far from innocent. Christians of all walks of life should be the last ones to judge others for the way in which they used to live.
But, to put it bluntly, I’ve got a major problem with Steve’s perspective on these good ol’ days. We both recognize that’s not how a Christian should live, so that’s not what bothers me. Rather, it is how Steve talked about these sinful days that strikes a nerve with me. Steve is reminiscing about these former “glory” days, not repenting. It’s as if he is so thankful that he got to experience all that, before sort of realizing that Christians aren’t supposed to do all that stuff. As if Christ’s commands are indeed burdensome and not life giving. Steve can’t live it up now, but at least he got his time to shine.
There is a massive difference between reflecting on past sins and being thankful that Christ has redeemed us from such a life compared to being thankful that we got to experience that part of life before taking our faith more seriously. Christians never have to hold their heads in guilt and shame as they think about their past. Christ’s blood has power beyond the wildest college experience. Christ’s righteousness has depths beyond the deepest regrets our hearts can feel.
But that’s just it. There should be, there ought to be, a certain type of regret or disappoint in former sins. Each one of them was sufficient cause for Christ to have to suffer Calvary for us. The whole collective of them? The whole experience of them? It’s hard to fathom the horror of it, and it should be. They sent Jesus to die. We sent Jesus to die. Shouldn’t this be sobering? Ought this not cause the soul to be humbled? As we look in the rearview mirror, should we not yearn for the windshield to reveal better living? Not to earn grace, nor to even erase what that backwards look reveals, but to say thank you for saving us from that worse way of life. To walk as He would have us walk. To see the goodness and beauty and truth of the ethics of Christ.
With that mindset, and heartset (if you will), we can see our days of past sin as being anything but the good ol’ days. They were days when we were lost not found. Moments of blindness not sight. Times of cheap and passing pleasure at the expense of rich and lasting relationship with God. Thank God for saving us from our good ol’ days.
Further Reading
Moore Thinking 
Great post! Honesty can come at a cost at times, but can be very beneficial even for others.
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You hit the nail on the head with this post. We should never glory in sins we committed. I think that a lot of people (christians included) just don’t take sin seriously. Our human minds can think oh well it’s just a “little” sin. God sees our “little” sins as enough for us to stand condemned . Whether we think our sin is as big as a mountain or as tiny as a grain of sand. ..whether we think we’re 1% pure or 99.9% pure….we all fall short. You’re right that our past sin should make us blush. I think about past sin and want to throw up. I often tell God how I was such an idiot . I know I’m forgiven , but I still tell Him I’m sorry . It’s not that I’m walking around thinking He’s condemning me(I’m forgiven) , but it still hurts me that I hurt HIM. Nobody wants to talk about repentance anymore. I believe a Christian life should be a life of daily repentance. I’m not talking about trying to be saved all over again every day or every time you screw up. Not at all. What I mean is that as a Christian, I’m aware and feel the Holy Spirit convict me of bad attitudes , times I fall short etc. I go to Christ in repentance every day and ask Him to forgive my shortcomings and to help me do better. I do appreciate all your comments and thoughts.
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There is a real biblical balance in your words. I agree that there seems to be a general tendency that avoids talking about ongoing repentance. But like you said, it is not about being forgiven and saved all over again, but rather it is a sadness and grief of having grieved our Father. I think that the more we really understand the Gospel, the more we are able to have a true sorrow over all our sins, while simultaneously experiencing a deep inner peace and joy knowing that we are forgiven.
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