Don't repent, think differently. Daniel Mosby
In Matthew 3:2 John the Baptist says:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
If we look up repent, in the dictionary we get:
feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin
feel remorse for
regret
be sorry for
rue
reproach oneself for
be ashamed of
be penitent
be guilt-ridden
wear sackcloth and ashes
view or think of (an action or omission) with deep regret or remorse.
The word repent is used 78 times in the NIV, 24 in the OT and 54 in the new testament, 8 times in Matthews Gospel, 3 times in Mark and 14 times in Luke.
In Matthew 11:20 the section is called Woe upon unrepentant towns:
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
Matthew 21:32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Matthew 12:41
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
In Mark’s Gospel it’s the first words Jesus is recorded as saying:
Mark 1:15
The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
For me repent is the worst translated word in the Bible. The Greek word translated as repent pretty much everywhere in the New Testament is μετανοέω or metanoeó.
The definition of this in Greek is: “to think differently or afterwards, to change your mind.”
If we put this original definition into those passages from earlier then the Bible becomes less about feeling sorry for yourself, full of sorrow and shame, and more about an exciting new beginning.
In Matthew 11:20
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not think differently.
Matthew 21:32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not think differently and believe him.
Matthew 12:41
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they thought differently at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have thought differently long ago in sackcloth and ashes”
Mark 1:15
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Think differently and believe the good news!”
The next question then is what should we think differently about? Well everything, but primarily, yourself. You see the Good News that Jesus is referring to there is that your identity is as God’s child and all the rubbish that has happened to you in your life doesn’t change that.
Think differently, think of yourself as God’s child, think of yourself the way that God thinks of you. Have you ever seen a mother look at her new born baby for the first time with a look of pure love and adoration. That only more, is how God looks at you. The good news, is that God loves you, think differently and love yourself in the same way!
Stop beating yourself up for the mistakes, stop believing the bad things others say about you. Think differently.
As I’ve said before stop caring about what you think others think about you and start caring about what you know God thinks about you.
You’ve heard the phrase born again Christian right? John 3:5
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”
Being born of the spirit is thinking differently realising your spiritual identity, born of water baptism, is a representation a symbol of that change in the way of thinking.
We read in one of the Matthew verses earlier The idea of repenting in sack cloth and ashes.
Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have thought differently long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
It’s an ancient Jewish custom with it’s roots in Genesis. It was a sign of grief.
Genesis 37:34-35, when Jacob heard that his Son Joseph had die:
“ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
Sackcloth and ashes were used as an external sign of one’s internal condition. The symbolism made change of heart visible and demonstrated the sincerity of one’s grief or repentance.
The sack cloth and ashes represent the former life the rebirth, the new mindset, the new way of thinking, the metanoia replaces the sack cloth and ashes with joy as David sings in Psalm 30:11.
The early church using the Greek understood metanoia as a new mindset. But the change in understanding came about relatively quickly in around 400 AD when the Greek was translated to Latin by St Jerome. In this translation metanoia became paenitentiam or penance.
St. Jerome's translation of metanoia as paenitentiam agere was a crucial link between the growing political power of Christianity and a significant theological shift. While the original Greek word spoke of a deep, transformative change of mind and heart, the Latin translation emphasized the performance of outward acts, which became a cornerstone of the institutional church's system of discipline and sacraments.
This mistranslation led to millennia of people thinking being a Christian is about doing good deeds and the external things we do rather than an internal change of mind and heart.
What we have to remember here is why was St Jerome translating the gospels into Greek. It was because Christianity was now the state religion of the Roman Empire. Empires want people to do good deeds, to tow the line, not think differently.
Jesus was all about challenging the status quo. From the woman caught in adultery, tax collectors becoming disciples, Zaccheus coming down from his tree, the woman at the well, the first becoming last in the upside down kingdom. Jesus was all about challenging the status quo. Think differently.
Yet in just 400 years think differently became do penance. The good news became, do what you’re told or bad things will happen.
2000 years later, we still have that mindset, we think that being a Christian is about the external things that we do, rather than an internal change in mindset.
Thanks Jerome!
How many of us were told that to become a Christian we had to say a sinners prayer. Repent. Say we’ll aim for that moral perfection.
Think differently. To be a Christian, to be Christ like, we need to make that internal change of thinking differently about who we were meant to be.
Now when that internal change in mind set does happen, there will be external changes but rather than it being about being good and moral perfection, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s about love and the tree of life.
Another way of considering think differently is about moving between those two trees. Moving from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to the tree of life.
The good news is the Gospel, Jesus. Jesus died to shows us the old way of thinking is over. He was literally nailed to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So that we can be reborn into the tree of life as we think differently.
As Jesus famously said to Zacchaeus, get down from your tree because I’m coming to your house for tea.
So what then will the external effects be if we succeed in this change of mindset.
Firstly we start loving ourselves again. That may manifest itself by cutting out some harmful behaviours but the key is the motivation. I’m not stopping doing that thing because it’s wrong and I want to avoid a telling off or even hell. I’m stopping doing that thing because I see the worth in myself. I see how I was made to live, I love who I am and I’m going to treat myself as I deserve to be treated.
The second sign is we don’t allow how others treat us to change our opinion. That may mean removing ourselves from situations where the voices we’re hearing are unhelpful, at least temporarily. Removing ourselves until we’re secure enough in our identities to stand up and say no that’s not who I am, that’s not right and I won’t stand for it.
The third is we see others as God sees them. We don’t’ judge. We don’t let differences consciously or otherwise effect how we think of people. We don’t let things that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tells us are sinful stop us from loving and accepting people. We treat the Palestinian and the Israeli, the Russian and Ukrainian, the Republican and Democrat as children of God, our siblings, we love them unconditionally.
Think differently.
The world is full of hate, think differently.
The world is full of people trying to show that they’re better than others, think differently.
The world is full of people trying to put others down, think differently.
The world is full of people who believe they’re worthless, think differently.
The world is full of people who think that money is the way to happiness, think differently.
The world is full of people who think that power is the way to happiness, think differently.
The world is full of people being selfish, think differently.
For what does the Lord God require from you, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly.
Love God and love your neighbour, there is no other commandment greater than these.
Think differently.
Be born again.
Love is the only mission.