TADB 054: Surrender or Repentance?

Growing up in my neighborhood, my friends and I would often hold wrestling contests like those we saw on TV.  One of our rules of engagement was if someone got into a situation he couldn’t get out of, he would simply say “uncle” (our version of tapping the mat or raising a white flag) and his opponent was obligated to let him go.  It was a statement of surrender….for the moment!  But we all knew it would start all over again later.   Nothing had really changed.  Sometimes people “come to Christ” with the same mentality.  They have little intention of changing their lives and discipleship is totally irrelevant. 

In order to understand the foundation for discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross, we need a clear understanding of the gospel.  We need to correctly answer three questions:

• What is the gospel?
• What issues does it resolve?
• What is the required response?

I have suggested in previous blogs that the gospel is the narrative of Jesus Christ the Lord and His kingdom (Rom 1:1-4).  It is His story – all of it from His incarnation to the final courtroom. 

The second question is what issue(s) does the gospel resolve?  In blog 51, I made a distinction between proximate (immediate) issues and causal (root) issues.  Both are real, but the former is symptomatic while the latter is the underlying issue.

Scripture describes many proximate issues:

Fallen, lost, dead, missed the mark, broken, guilty, shameful, unbeliever, sick, captive, slave, brokenhearted, poor blind, oppressed, etc.

However, the causal issue goes much deeper and is found in the very beginning of humanity.  Adam’s sin was more than violating a command of God.  It was deliberate and outright rebellion from God’s authority and leadership over his life.  The result is that we are all born into the kingdom of rebellion and are individually complicit with it.  This condition is also described as being ungodly, haters of God, children of wrath, children of the devil, those without law.  We are rebels against God, declaring our independence from His authority. 

When presenting the gospel, it seems more compassionate to infer a person is lost rather than a rebel.  But if we don’t identify the underlying issue, we rob the gospel of its power and marginalize the freedom that it brings. 

The third question is what is the required response that must be made?  If we are simply lost, then we need to be found; if broken, then we need to be mended; if poor, than we need resources, etc.   But if we are rebels, what is required?  Jesus began His ministry announcing the gospel of the kingdom and said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Two words we tend to use interchangeably are surrender and repent.  I would submit, however, there is a critical distinction that should be made.  Surrender is an act of giving up, saying, “I quit.  I can’t go on”.  It is like tapping the mat, the white flag, or saying “uncle”.   It implies submission (temporary) but not allegiance. 

In WW II, POWs were soldiers who had surrendered.  Most were held in camps of internment with various levels of treatment.  A few tried to escape and return to the fight, but most simply waited until the war was over to return to their country of origin.   The main point is that although POW’s surrendered, they did not change their allegiance to the country in which they were held captive. 

I am concerned that too many times we present a gospel response that looks a lot like surrender.  People feel overwhelmed with their sin, guilt, shame, fears or other proximate issues and finally say “I quit” or “I give up; get me out of my mess”.

Repentance, however, is not only surrender but a change of allegiance.  It is a turning from self-governance to Christ-governance.  It is renouncing our loyalty to self and pledging loyalty to Christ.    

ISBE:  Repent = to change the mind

The word μετανοέω, metanoéō, expresses the true New Testament idea of the spiritual change implied in a sinner’s return to God. The term signifies “to have another mind,” to change the opinion or purpose with regard to sin. It is equivalent to the Old Testament word “turn.”

It is one thing to be bested, beaten, or defeated.  It is a whole different thing to change the loyalty of our hearts and minds to embrace Christ as our new and final authority.  The gospel demands not only surrender but a new allegiance.  Repentance is more than the acknowledgement that we have blown it, made a mess or even violated God’s moral code.  It is life under new management. 

Surrender without allegiance creates a syncretistic¹ gospel, one that reinforces the myth that “life is still all about me” but hopefully with less pain. 

The gospel response that brings new life is more than saying “uncle”.  It is the reset of our hearts to live under the rule of our benevolent King and gracious Father.  It is to renounce our rebellion and pledge our allegiance to our Creator.  The gospel Jesus preached and the one the early church embraced was a radical invitation to leave our rebellion against God and come back home as the prodigal son did.    

Questions for reflection:

1.  How could you guide a spiritual conversation from proximal issues to casual ones?

2.  Reflect on 1 John 3:8, “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

¹ Syncretism (Dictionary.com): The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles or practices.