Should we tell people they are sinners?

Should we tell people they are sinners?

The answer to this question in most of the church, including the evangelical church, today would be no. There is a great reluctance to warn people about sin. This applies in particular to sexual sins like sex before marriage or homosexual acts. The reasoning goes that we don’t want to offend people and so put them off hearing the gospel. However, today I was reading Ezekiel chapter 3:16-21 today, and 3:18 sums up the chapter:

When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. (Ezekiel 3:18, NIV)

And Ezekiel 3:20 says much the same in connection to “righteous” people. Ezekiel is told that part of his responsibility is to warn people about their sin, and if he did not do so he would be failing in his duty to God. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to apply this duty to the church. Part of our duty is to warn the world about sin.

We are so reluctant to do this. We are afraid of being condemnatory, or judgemental, or putting people off. Let’s consider these arguments for a moment. The “putting people off” argument is based on a false view of the gospel and humanity. This false view is that if only people hear about Jesus, and if only we present Jesus in a winsome enough way then people will want to believe. This is a deeply unbiblical picture. The Bible presents a very different view. It presents us as hopelessly lost in our sin, hearts hardened in rebellion against God. It then presents God as uniquely able to save us by changing our hearts, giving us new hearts. Indeed this is how Ezekiel works. The first thirty chapters or so are pretty dire! Then we get some glorious chapters of salvation which speak of God giving us a new heart, making dry bones live. Talking about sin is an essential part of the gospel. Indeed, Jesus was in now way reluctant to speak about sin.

So am I saying that the next sermon you preach, if you are a preacher, should be full of hell and condemnation? No. What I would urge us all to do is to recognise the true nature of the gospel, to seek God and to have a better idea of the direction in which the Holy Spirit will lead us if we are truly being led by the Spirit. 

Jesus was uniquely able to speak directly about sin but with a heart of grace. The gospel is good news because it is able to set men and women free from sin.  May we live and speak with the Spirit of Christ, not the spirit of the world.