Unresolved Guilt in the Church - Gospel Advocate

by Dan Eubanks

Unresolved Guilt in the Church

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ver since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, man has had the capacity for a conscience. And because we have a conscience, we can feel guilt. The ability to feel guilt was intended by God for our good, not harm. Guilt is intended to serve as a temporary sense of pain that turns us back in the right

God. It is certainly true that a sense of unworthiness must be felt, but we must be careful to make the penitent soul just as aware of God’s grace. We have also emphasized the possibility of apostasy, neglecting the security in Christ. The Bible makes it clear that a child of God may fall back into the world of sin. But neglecting

Guilt is intended to serve as a temporary sense of pain that turns us back in the right direction. But some in the church, having done this, still feel guilty. direction. But some in the church, having done this, still feel guilty. They, as Henry David Thoreau once said, “lead lives of quiet desperation” with little assurance of heaven.

Imbalanced Preaching This unresolved guilt is due in part to an imbalance in preaching regarding the grace and wrath of God. An overreaction to “cheap grace” has resulted in an almost exclusive emphasis on the wrath and severity of God. Many have seldom heard a sermon on the grace of 26

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April 2011

the security provided in Christ will breed unresolved guilt. Jude assures us that Christ is able to keep us from falling (v. 24). So the chance of continually (though not unconditionally) standing in the faith is as good as or greater than the chance of falling. This possibility should be taught. If it is not, unresolved guilt will linger. Preaching that presents works as a matter of merit rather than a demonstration of faith will also result in unresolved guilt. Works demonstrate faith, and faith is counted for righteousness

(Romans 4:3, 23-24). When we see our works as a matter of merit and the foundation of our salvation, we never know how much is enough. We are saved by His righteousness, not ours. Unresolved guilt can also come from the failure to preach Christ crucified as the payment for our sins. If we believe that our action is the foundation of our salvation, guilt will remain unresolved. The agony of the cross should be preached often enough so all will know that the debt of sin has been fully paid, and our part is simply to accept this gift through obedient and active faith.

Internal Struggles Some have unresolved guilt because of an unrealistic and overly sensitive conscience. Though God has freely forgiven them, they cannot forgive themselves. While an unfeeling conscience is a sad state, it is almost as bad to go too far in the other direction. We must understand that God simply expects our best, not perfection. Sometimes refusing to face guilt honestly results in it lingering. When David finally faced his guilt squarely, he repented and resolved his guilt (Psalm 51). It must be so with us. If we believe that our sin is not all that bad, we do not

resolve it. When the concept of sin is superficial, redemption is as well.

Lack of Confession and Repentance Another cause of unresolved guilt in the church is the low level of honest confession. The old adage was right that “honest confession is good for the soul.” Once we get our sins in the open, we can use our energy to cope with and overcome them rather than hide them. Most congregations do not provide the opportunity or atmosphere for this. The atmosphere is instead one of perfect saints rather than redeemed sinners. Guilt-ridden souls feel isolated and long for a time and place to confess their sins openly and fully. The atmosphere would be helped if confession was mutual. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (kjv). The response must be one of understanding, forgiveness and acceptance rather than shock and rejection. There must be a real confirmation of mutual love. If we

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warmly receive each other back into the fold, we feel that God has as well. In a very practical vein, guilt is often unresolved because little or no effort is made to repent. There must be fruits of repentance before there can be any real resolution of guilt (Matthew 3:8). Confession of sin is meaningless until a person enacts volitional change in his life. The only true criterion for release from the bondage of guilt is change.

Consequences Unresolved guilt produces a feeling of estrangement from God and our fellow Christians that leads to withdrawal and stifles fellowship. One feels unworthy to associate with others who appear to be blameless. It produces a habit of constant selfcriticism that results in an exaggerated sense of inferiority and worthlessness. It can even cause self-imposed punishment by individuals in an effort to pay for the sin themselves. Judas took this route. And when one can no longer stand the self-criticism, he will turn his guns of criticism on others.

The inability to resolve one’s guilt will also do away with joy in the Christian life. Service done out of duty or fear rather than gratitude and joy greatly affects our expectation of heaven. It produces a perpetual sense of fear, not only of eternal punishment but earthly dangers of various kinds. Prolonged unresolved guilt can even affect one mentally and physically. A sense of guilt, justified or not, is thought by many to be at the core of mental illness. It affects some in body as well. David said, “When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away” (Psalm 32:3 rsv). There is an unnecessary amount of unresolved guilt in the Lord’s church – guilt that Christ came to take away. The problem is not with Christianity but our presentation of it. Our preaching and understanding of guilt needs to be biblically founded. o Dan Eubanks is the preacher for the South Parkway congregation in Corinth, Miss. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

April 2011

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