5 Kinds of “Repentance”

Human beings are so clever. We can find brilliant ways to be “spiritual” without really being godly – even without changing at all!

Lately I’ve been thinking about the ways that we can “repent” without really repenting.

Paul once explained that God’s patience and kindness is intended to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). But instead, we find ways around it.

So here are five ways we repent without repenting at all:

1. “I’m Better” Repentance: Repenting makes me look good, and spiritual. Because we’re all sinners, of course. At least I admit it. Oh, and I’m not as bad as that person over there…
2. “I’m Caught” Repentance: Perhaps the most familiar fake repentance. I’m sorrowful – because I was caught. I just hate it when people catch me sinning.
3. “I’m Embarrassed” Repentance: Similar to #2, except that I’m not so much sorrowful because I was caught, I’m sorrowful because the people around me don’t like what I did. This particular sin isn’t cool, and people found out that I’m not cool. How embarrassing!
4. “I’m Hopeless” Repentance: I’m trapped in this sin, and I’m never going to change! We need a disclaimer for this one, of course. We know that in our human nature, we are hopelessly enslaved to sin (Romans 6:16). The difference here is that we secretly don’t want to change, even if God will empower us to do so. So we wallow in our helplessness.
5. “I’m Stubborn” Repentance: Similar to #4, except that we’re more open about the fact that we don’t want to change. A common phrase here is “It’s just the way I am”. Or you might say, “Sorry I hit you – next time get out of the way!”.

Of course, none of these are really repentance at all. Rather, they’re five kinds of “sorrows” or “sadnesses”. We get depressed. We cry. But if you want a hint about whether or not true repentance has happened, check down the road to see if anything changes.

Paul referred to this as “worldly grief” as opposed to “godly grief”. Both are grief, for sure. But the former is more often used by us for our supposed selfish advantage – it never really leads to life.

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10

So just a reminder – we are extremely skilled at “deceiving ourselves” (1 John 1:8). May God give us lives that are characterized by true repentance (2 Timothy 2:24-26)!