We wish this question were not necessary, but due to the stubborn streak that resides in all our hearts there are times when we resist repentance. What happens on those occasions?
I would propose there is a progression that emerges until we repent.
- We pridefully chose to believe we know better than God.
- We begin to brainstorm support for this false belief.
- We grow increasingly convinced that God should think/rule as we believe.
- We daydream of a world that follows our beliefs/values.
- We begin to make God in our own image.
There may be other paths from point one to point five, but point five should startle us. Yet making God in our image has become increasingly fashionable in our day. It is common for people to view God as needy, changing with the times, a risk taker, playing favorites, moody, or having a “personal arrangement” with them that differs from the Gospel found in the Bible.
Consider one of the basic definitions of repentance – “agreeing with God.” When we do not repent we necessarily believe God should agree with us or our actions. It only takes a little bit of imagination to begin making God in our own image – and completely reversing the foundational teaching of the relationship between God and man in Genesis 1.
All of this means, that if we are going to be biblical Christians (and that is the only kind of Christians there are) we must be regularly repentant. If not, we are either attacking or distorting the very character of God.
More than this we will teach (or try to teach) others (especially our spouse, children, and close friends) to believe the same distorted beliefs about God. Unless we repent we will either teach (passively) or argue (aggressively) that our beliefs are accurate. They will be forced to agree with us, confront us, or live with an irreconcilable tension. This is particularly hard for children, teens, and those young in their faith.
This brings us to a profound summary point – the failure to repent is to believe and proclaim heresy. If you defensively think, “I’m a Christian and I know it. You can’t judge me,” then you are still too self-centered and completely missing the point. Repentance is worship and evangelism. It proclaims God as more wise, just, and worthy than our beliefs and actions. It also proclaims God’s willingness to restore those who acknowledge His right character.
When we fail to repent we miss an opportunity to reveal the majesty of God’s character and redemption to ourselves and those around us. We may do some bad things when we fail to repent (and experience the hardening heart consequences), but more than that we miss the opportunity to participate in the greatest thing – God’s love and redemption.
Jesus was (and is) a master of catching deceitful people in their own traps (Galatians 6:7). But this answer does much more than reveal Jesus’ clever use of rhetoric. It is a foundational statement regarding the role of the sacred and civil (see also Romans 13:-17; I Timothy 2:1-6; Titus 3:1-2; and 2 Peter 2:13-17).
Note: For a free Word document copy of this blog post visit the 
The next several sections of Mark 10 build from this story of Jesus and the children. Jesus interacts with the Rich Young Man and the request of James and John from the principle, “For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these [children]. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
It is very easy to listen to this remark from Jesus and think he is being harsh and condescending. When we address adults as “children” we are usually insulting them. However, Jesus is drawing their attention away from the hard command given to the Rich Young Man and back to his statement that the kingdom of God belongs to those with child-like faith.
You can only see what your questions allow to be revealed. If you ask bad questions, then you will never even consider good answers. In our day and age there is a strong tendency to read this passage and debate self-esteem. However, I believe this would miss the point entirely. To borrow from the opening line of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about us.”
After Jesus spoke of welcoming others in his name, the disciples asked about a “competing” teacher, “Do you want us to welcome him too (v. 38 paraphrased)?” Jesus answer (again paraphrased), “There should be no competition between messengers but only between messages (see also Philippians 1:15-18).”
Have you noticed our culture’s infatuation with entertaining itself with fear? There are countless books, movies, thrill rides, bungee jumps, and for some people their regular driving habits. This post is not going to condemn those with an appetite for fear as violating Philippians 4:6’s command to be anxious for nothing. Rather, instead of seeking to reduce fear this post will seek to increase fear.
The entire mindset of the Jewish culture was to avoid contamination. You had to know what was clean versus unclean so that the unclean things could be avoided. Life was much more like dodge ball than freeze tag (the variety I played as a child everyone who was not it could “unfreeze” the frozen by touching them – I acknowledge the legitimacy of the dozens of other varieties of freeze tag).
I believe we often miss something about this unnamed woman – she was honest. She had broken several major social rules. She was being called out in the midst of an overwhelming crowd. She had suffered long and was just tasting relief. And Jesus shocks everyone by saying “Who touched me (v. 31)?”
