A Genuine Godly Grief
by Christopher Hendrix
She takes a selfie with her phone, then before hitting ‘post,’ goes to work, making her skin look smoother, her body thinner, and her hair more vibrant. He creates a background that screams adventure, then inserts his photo with a caption, ‘had a great time,’ and uploads it. A song plays over Spotify with a good sound from a band you’ve never heard of before. Upon looking them up, you will find out that all of them were created by AI. A real person in the recording studio did not play a single note. A pastor preaches to a large congregation that climate activism is a part of the Gospel, so his congregation must reduce travel in cars and planes to love their neighbor. At the same time, he flies multiple times a month to speaking engagements. A former President declares he is fit for duty while confusing names on several occasions, forgetting significant events, making up stories that haven’t happened, and even declaring victory over situations like the economy as inflation has skyrocketed. These examples come from real life (even the last one!), yet there’s nothing real about them. We live in an age where lies, deception, and fakeness act as the normal functioning of society. This is our culture. This is the fruit of secularization. This is why the Gospel must infiltrate every part of society.
You can watch the full sermon on 2 Cor 7:10-12 here to accompany this blog post.
We desire our nation to repent, and we want our culture to express grief for their sin and cry out to the Lord. These are good desires. However, how can we expect our nation to repent of its sins while we fail to repent in the church? How can we expect genuine repentance from our society when we struggle with authentic repentance in the church? What does genuine repentance even look like?
Paul paints the picture of genuine repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:10–12. Paul lambasted them in a letter for their sins and called them to repent. This letter was delivered by Titus, and Paul waited in anticipation of hearing the results. Once he finally met up with Titus, he received good news. The Corinthians did repent of their sin. Titus informed him of the conversations and what took place upon their reception of his harsh letter. In this passage, we see their response to Paul’s letter. They were sorrowful. They grieved over what they did and then sought to make things right. They resolved to reestablish the relationship with Paul. Paul acknowledged their genuine grief because it led them to repentance and a resolve to reconcile. He contrasted this with worldly sorrow.
A worldly grief has the appearance of genuine grief, but it's not real. Sure, the tears may be real. The regret may be real. But, at the core of this is a self-centric response. It’s a sorrow due to the consequences and the results of the self no longer being seen in a good light. This sorrow stems from being caught in something and then having to pay up either in a loss of possessions, loss of position, or a loss of prominence. People see you differently, so you grieve over that. At the heart of this grief is self-worship. You’ve built yourself up to look a certain way (a fake identity), and now that has come crashing down. This isn’t a genuine godly grief over sin.
A godly grief results in repentance and a resolve to reconcile because what drives this is humility. When we grieve in a godly way, we recognize that we are nothing. There is no good in us. How does this happen? Because at the core of a godly grief, embedded in the name, is God himself. Godly sorrow produces humility, which leads to repentance because it’s a recognition that God is God and we are not. We grieve over our sins not because of the consequences we face but because we have sinned against the holy Triune God. This grief stems from the love God has for us. It derives from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We grieve over our actions against God because His love dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. A genuine godly grief comes from a heart that God has changed and evidences itself through repentance and reconciliation.
One of the ways culture influences the church is through putting on the mask. If we sin, we may be upset about it, but do we run back to that sin? Do we plan and premediate our sin? Do we make peace with it and hold on to it? If we do, we may express worldly sorrow for our sin, not a godly grief. We are masking our sorrow as godly when reality shows it's worldly. A godly sorrow leads to repentance, which means we turn entirely from it. It may catch us by surprise occasionally, whether it’s a quick outburst of anger, an image on a screen that pops up, or a sudden urge that arises. However, if we fall, we will quickly run to Christ and resolve to be strengthened by Him to fight that sin in the future. We don’t dwell on that sin anymore. We don’t ponder or look for ways to engage in it.
Some things are changing in our culture. People are waking up (a righteous wokeness, if you will) to the failure of our secular society. They are searching for answers or what’s next. Let the church be ready with the only and final answer to their sin. For us to prepare, genuine grief and repentance start with the household of God. Let us examine our hearts to see if we’ve been genuine in our grief for our sins. Let us embrace a true repentance. Let us live authentically in an artificially driven world.