The story is told of an old country church that needed remodeling.
Because they had limited funds, the members scraped together supplies wherever they could and did all the labor themselves.
After months of work, the church was nearly finished. The only thing left to do was paint. But after all they had spent on the rest of the project, they didn’t have enough money to buy paint to cover the entire building. They put their heads together and decided they would have to dilute the paint with water and try to cover the church as best they could.
So, the members got to work. Though the paint was thin, they managed to cover the entire church with at least one coat of white.
Just as they were finishing, however, the sky grew dark. Thunder clapped. Rain poured down. The diluted paint stood no chance—it quickly washed off the old church.
The members fell to the ground in tears and cried out, “Lord, what shall we do now?”
Suddenly, they heard a booming voice speak from heaven:
“Repaint, you thinners. Repaint!”
Repent. We rarely hear that word anymore, even in church. Repentance is more than just saying you’re sorry. It means recognizing that what you did was wrong—that the allpowerful, holy God hates sin and punishes it with a life sentence in the prison of hell.
Repentance means asking God to forgive you with the confidence that he has and always will because Jesus suffered our punishment in our place. In the end, repentance and faith are really synonymous. To repent is to recognize your sin and what it deserves, ask God to forgive you, and trust that he has because of Jesus.
That’s what faith is—recognizing your sin, asking God for forgiveness, and trusting that he has forgiven you because of Jesus. Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin: repentance emphasizes sorrow over sin, and faith emphasizes trust in the Savior.
But there is one more step—what Jesus called “fruits of repentance,” and what many preachers today call “fruits of faith.” When we see that God forgives us, we then turn from those sins and fight against them to thank God for his amazing grace.
The word “repent” should be part of our everyday vocabulary as Christians. Every day we sin. Every day we need to repent.
Just as those church members diluted their paint, however, many today are tempted to dilute God’s truth. People don’t want to hear about sin. Smiling preachers on TV urge us to stop talking about it altogether. People don’t need such negativity, they say.
So, they stop talking about certain sins.
They stop talking about God’s holiness and hell.
As Paul warned Timothy, such preachers “tell people what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).
But if we don’t talk about sin, people won’t see their need for a Savior. If we don’t talk about sin, people won’t realize they need to repent and find in Jesus the forgiveness they so desperately need.
So, watch out for churches and preachers that water down God’s Word. Watch out for those who never talk about sin or call people to repent. Christ has already washed away your sins—don’t wash down his Word.
Repaint, you thinners, repaint.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas.
You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
