Good Thief, Bad Thief: Why We Need to be Penitents Desiring Salvation

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Audio recording of “Good Thief, Bad Thief” from XLT in Phoenix, Arizona.

I am a thief. The question is which one?

God is not okay with your sin. He’s not. At all. Ever. We are living in a time when people will say, “That’s not a sin,” or, “God’s love is bigger than that sin.” The first one’s a lie. There is sin. The second isn’t, but it’s twisted.

God’s love is bigger than sin, but he’s not okay with it. A lot of times we mistake God’s mercy for weakness. Make no mistake, He is not weak, and He is not okay with your sin, but you think He is and so do I.

Why do I say that? Because most churches that I go into there’s no line for Confession. If we really believed that God was not okay with our sin we wouldn’t even have to stand up at Mass and say “I confess to Almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned.”

You know how people would know? They would see the imprint of the carpeting on our forehead. If we really understood that God is not okay with our sin.

A lot of the time our exterior posture is a reflection of our interior posture. Jesus is going to come into your midst. You’re supposed to kneel before God. Do you do that because you believe its God? Do you do it because you know you have sin? Do you because you that your sin means death and He is your only shot?

I think most of the time I’m the thief on the left cross. I’m tempting Jesus. I’m yelling at Him. I’m talking to Him like he’s my equal. “Hey if you’re really God do this. Hey Jesus, if you really love me, get me out of (insert impossible situation here). And if you do, (insert impossible promise here that I’ll break in a week).” I’m the thief on the left.

Do you know what I want? I don’t want His salvation because that means I’m going to have to change. What I want is His healing. I want Him to make my life right. I want Him to take away the bad things that are happening, take away my pain, take away my bitterness, take away my anger, take away my loneliness, take away all those other frustrations. “Take them away God. You can heal me, but you cannot save me.” I’m a patient in need of healing. And God’s happy to heal you, but be careful because if you’re going to ask Him to heal you. If you’re going to be a patient you’d better be a penitent that wants Salvation.

We have a lot of patients in our world, in our homes, in our schools, and in our churches. People who want to be healed. We don’t have very many penitents. I am a thief God. I have stolen, and I need you to save me.