Alpha and sin.
Nicky Gumbel, current leader of the popular Alpha course, feels it would be unfair for God to punish another person for our sins. That is why he reminds us that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself”, and he categorically affirms that God did not punish another. He punished himself. He took all the load on his own shoulders.
No one can argue that the mystery of the Trinity enables Nicky’s thoughts. What he says is true, but it is not the whole truth. The rest of the story is found in Isaiah 53, where we see a suffering servant, whom we have come to know as Jesus the Son, bearing our iniquities. Jesus as God, please, but also Jesus the Son of Man. We call this doctrine the “substitutionary atonement,” and it is non-negotiable. God made his Son, the Christ, sin for us. The whole scenario of the perfect Lamb, the vicarious sacrifice (let no man bear the title of “Vicar” today). He -Jesus- became sin for us who knew no sin. How is it possible that such passages are totally overlooked and their meaning labeled as “unfair”?
It was fair and just in the eyes of Heaven to the point that to this day, God is “faithful and just” to forgive us of our sins because of what Jesus, the innocent substitute, did for us, in our place.
Alpha/Gumbel seem to treat sin from a human perspective, not God’s. There is no mention of the holiness and wrath of God. Again, it seems that the creators of the course are afraid to offend and scare. Jesus had no such reservations.
I find no call to sincere repentance, as Jesus and John the Baptist always first taught.
The sinfulness of sin and the holiness to which we are called is absent or at least very slight. The fear of God, which must come first, making grace truly “amazing”, is not promoted at all.
People are told to pray for salvation in silence, facing the harrowing scenes you will find in the Book of Acts. I have ministered in prison situations, where desperate men cry out to God without shame, and God listens.
I realize it’s not just Alpha who has to put up with such criticism. The Western church has for many decades entered into a formulaic response to the Gospel. Evangelicals have little to claim beyond Romanists at the time of the invitation. He raises his hand. He only believes in Jesus. You just have to know that you are already accepted. Just sign this card. Just go down to the front. Just pray. Just find a good church.
Where are those agonizing in prayer, knowing their utterly lost condition, hanging by a thread over the fires of Hell because of an angry God? Jonathan Edwards didn’t think such an idea existed. He read his Bible cover to cover and saw the violence he inflicted on the wicked chapter after chapter.
Today we find that “God is in a good mood.” “He just loves you so much…” Therefore, no one feels the need to repent. Alpha easily falls into that trap.
An example of how Alpha downplays sin is his response to masturbation. (Handout, “Is There Something Wrong With Sex Before Marriage?”)
While your response to the pamphlet title is admirable, you are of course talking about what we have defined as sex, or fornication/adultery. Jesus did not define sexual sin this way, but let us know that this sin begins in the mind. The persistent look, the desire, certainly a manifestation as physical as masturbation, everything is included in the sin. And sin on any level is serious. Here we must part with Luther (and today’s Dobson, plus many others) who called manual sex a “puppy sin.”
Martin Luther, remember, lived most of his life as a member of the Roman Catholic Church. He absorbed his entire process of categorizing sins into “venial” and “mortal.” Some sins, the process declares, are simply not that serious.
But sin must be seen as serious on all levels, and must never be invited. If the young man is told not to worry about this sin, will he also be encouraged to “wink” to sleep with his suitor? The logic is still there. Young hormones are strong. You need to physically prove the relationship to be sure. And so on we justify everything we do.
I’m not saying Gumbel and Alpha totally miss the mark in the area of sin. “The bad things we do that ruin our lives” are mentioned. People are warned. Some get it and take it to the next level. But it seems to me that there is a more direct method. Of course, the crowds will thin out. But remember that the multitudes of Jesus were gathered by the power of God, not by the illumination of the Message. Compromise is a bad idea in any generation.
