What kind of Christian are you.?

.the kind that is open about your sin.. in other words you do not make efforts to hide your imperfection and immorality form others.. ?

or are you the sort that hides you sins from others and maybe even yourself.. keeps your immorality hidden as much as possible?

And which do you think is the best way to be?

I don't know which category I fit into. I don't like to openly display my sin to those who might be hindered by it, or too offended by it. But I also don't try to cover up the fact that I am a sinner.

I think everyone needs to be aware of their sin, and their need to change it.

What do you think hinders non believers more..?

Christians who hide their sins form them.. or Christians who acknowledge their sins openly to even them .. the unbeliever?

Personally.. I believe that the average unbeliever already knows that even the best Christian struggles with sin.. and acts immorally.. just as a non believer does.. so to me hiding it.. only serves to make us appear as hypocrites and rather pretentious.

It seems to me the thing that is important.. in that matter of setting examples for others.. is simply acknowledging sin as sin and immorality as immorality.. rather than trying to hide both of those things from others.. to appear to them as a person who you actually are not.

Because that is what unbelievers typically do not do.. acknowledge sin or immorality. Their morality is usually immorality and their sin is usually accepted as not sin.

..but I could be wrong.

I guess I keep it open, of course I try to set a good example in public and try to be an overall nice guy that shows the qualities a Christian should so it's kind of hard to just be like "I'm immoral guys!!" because people would just laugh. I do tell people that I sin when they ask, of course, but that's not really a big issue when I'm in public and whatnot.

I've struggled with certain things in my life, but it's all been a private, personal manner. So when it comes down to it, I am an open sinner and I do tell people about how all of us are sinners and have a sinful nature.

I think Im both...certain things people dont need to know about me.
But if it will help another whos struggling with the same, then yeah Ill tell em I struggled with it.
Im not gonna be advertising everytime I fail...that seems to be too much of a "look at me, feel sorry for me" type of thing. IDK...I could be wrong.

I don't think it is good to be completely open about every bad thing we do. Some things are private, and should be kept between the people involved. And if something is in the past, it should be kept in in the past. There is no reason that everyone needs to know about it.

Sin will affect people differently.

Some sins need to be in the open in order for the person to remove that sin.

Some need to be between two people.

Talking about sin can make people more down to earth, and relatable. As in, I experience that, that might help me. When talking about sin it should be done in a way that is uplifting, not for shock value.

If a pastor talks about sex, than he might talk about a few sins he had and how he overcame it, in order to show that i can be overcome and offer advice on how to do it.

If a pastor talks about theft and shows an instance from his past, than that would be ok.

If a pastor talks about having affairs and starts going into detail about one he had the other day, than he has crossed a line to shock value and the story can not help, but hurt or embarrass.

Talking about sin should be about healing, not hurting someone. Healing can be done via removing them from the congregation or talking to them in private.

Minus youre last paragraph thingy, I agree Lord V.
I feel if you boot someone of the congregation..Well Ive seen it....It pushes people further AWAY from God.

BOXXYBABEEBROOTAL wrote:

Minus youre last paragraph thingy, I agree Lord V.
I feel if you boot someone of the congregation..Well Ive seen it....It pushes people further AWAY from God.

That is what Sin does, pushes us from God. So that is the proper response. The point of it should bring someone back to God. If they leave God, than their sin was more important.

God does not want sin to reign in the lives of his children, any more than your parents would like you to live in a world of drugs and they push you out of the house, so your lifestyle does not corrupt theirs. They push you out, because they love you, also because your lifestyle will corrupt their own.

It is the same principle.

lord voldemort wrote:

BOXXYBABEEBROOTAL wrote:

Minus youre last paragraph thingy, I agree Lord V.
I feel if you boot someone of the congregation..Well Ive seen it....It pushes people further AWAY from God.

That is what Sin does, pushes us from God. So that is the proper response. The point of it should bring someone back to God. If they leave God, than their sin was more important.

God does not want sin to reign in the lives of his children, any more than your parents would like you to live in a world of drugs and they push you out of the house, so your lifestyle does not corrupt theirs. They push you out, because they love you, also because your lifestyle will corrupt their own.

It is the same principle.

Well my parents wouldn't do that.
They have told me before they wouldn't do that.
So...what youre saying is...Just dump people if they sin?

well...the Bible has an example where a church was instructed to expel someone who was living in unrepentant sin...so, it is a biblical practice, though not to be taken lightly. It isn't done to just dump people, but to wake them up, so to speak, to the seriousness of what they are doing, and hopefully this will spur them to repentance.


If my daughter was 18 and still living at home, and started doing drugs, I would most definitely insist that she leave the home. I wouldn't want to support her in any way that would make it easier for her to continue doing drugs.

BryneVampyr wrote:

well...the Bible has an example where a church was instructed to expel someone who was living in unrepentant sin...so, it is a biblical practice, though not to be taken lightly. It isn't done to just dump people, but to wake them up, so to speak, to the seriousness of what they are doing, and hopefully this will spur them to repentance.


If my daughter was 18 and still living at home, and started doing drugs, I would most definitely insist that she leave the home. I wouldn't want to support her in any way that would make it easier for her to continue doing drugs.

Bryne explained what I was trying to say.

BOXXYBABEEBROOTAL wrote:

lord voldemort wrote:

BOXXYBABEEBROOTAL wrote:

Minus youre last paragraph thingy, I agree Lord V.
I feel if you boot someone of the congregation..Well Ive seen it....It pushes people further AWAY from God.

That is what Sin does, pushes us from God. So that is the proper response. The point of it should bring someone back to God. If they leave God, than their sin was more important.

God does not want sin to reign in the lives of his children, any more than your parents would like you to live in a world of drugs and they push you out of the house, so your lifestyle does not corrupt theirs. They push you out, because they love you, also because your lifestyle will corrupt their own.

It is the same principle.

Well my parents wouldn't do that.
They have told me before they wouldn't do that.
So...what youre saying is...Just dump people if they sin?

Then everyone would be blind if they did that.

This is about those who will corrupt the people.

If you are into drugs, than that lifestyle will eventually infect your parents. You may steal from them, you may shoot up in their house, you may buy drugs from someone and they may follow you home, rob the place, or worse. If you can not pay for the drugs, they may go after your parents.

The lifestyle of someone will eventually affect everyone. So what Paul recommended to the church of Corinth that they expel a man for sleeping with his step-mother. That idea even was repulsive to the Greek culture. So Paul says throw him out, til he repents.

When he stopped doing that, Paul told the church to bring him back in to the church.

ELAN wrote:

I don't know which category I fit into. I don't like to openly display my sin to those who might be hindered by it, or too offended by it. But I also don't try to cover up the fact that I am a sinner.

I think everyone needs to be aware of their sin, and their need to change it.

ditto

i dont really randomly discuss sin with people unless i am really really having problems overcoming it, but i also notice that when i sin i cannot feel god's presence if i allow myself to go into it without recognition and an attitude of repentance, meaning i am struggling against it instead of just doing what i please. i really dont like not being able to feel gods presence, its so peaceful and loving and i really like being able to be in that type of communication with him, that right there is enough to keep me from falling into sin. im always open with god about sin and i ask him for help to overcome it, and he does help me, but people, not really unless im very desperate. many times if i am willing to surrender myself to him, god will correct me each and every time i sin, even on some things i never knew were sinful or just didnt think about, as long as i listen to him, he continues to do so, if not, he stops.

I think what you mean to ask is if you're a Christian who hides their imperfections and doesn't really let anyone know about them except really close friends and God, or if you're a Christian who does share his/her struggles a lot with a number of different people, thus giving themselves a reputation of someone who struggles a lot and is sorta always in need of help.

From my experience, there seems 2 types of Christians - strugglers and helpers. The strugglers seem to always be looking for help, or maybe just always have questions they don't understand. Helpers are those who never really share personal struggles or information, thus seeming like more "mature" and "stronger" christians, and are usually the ones people turn to for help, thus giving themselves a reputation of high esteem and confidence.

In my personal history, I've been more of a struggler than a helper, but have helped some people who were less experienced or spiritually mature than me.

this thread was never supposed to be about whether or not you discuss sins.... but that is what happens.. thread evolution

I sin a lot and I do not hide it.

oh dude, I so thought of that song when reading your post, "I'm so excited, I about to lose control and I think I like it"... hahahaha sorry.

LastFirstborn wrote:

I sin a lot and I do not hide it.

Well, since you are an agnostic, I have to ask, do you really care if you sin or not? This is with all due respect. I just don't know why you would "boast" about it. I think this would be a great conversation starter imo.

Also, I am both. I think my posts here are proof enough of the open revelations at least.

-

BryneVampyr wrote:

I don't think it is good to be completely open about every bad thing we do. Some things are private, and should be kept between the people involved. And if something is in the past, it should be kept in in the past. There is no reason that everyone needs to know about it.

Much wisdom here, folks.