Illustration - Who is a sinner ?

 

Illustrations -  Who is a sinner ? 

I got this from someone else today. I'm not sure who the original author is. I've edited and modified it slightly for illustration purposes:

A man fell in a pit and couldn't get himself out!

A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down in that pit.”

An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall in this pit.”

A Christian Scientist came along and said, “You only think you’re in a pit.”

A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into a pit.”

A Sadducee said, "You better figure out how to get out of that pit because there are no angels to come and help you."

Confucius said, “If you would have listened to me you wouldn’t be in that pit.”

Buddha said, “Your pit is only a state of mind.”

A realist said, “Now, that’s a pit!”

A scientist calculated the pressure necessary in terms of pounds and square inches to get him out of the pit.

A geologist told him to appreciate and study the rock strata in the pit.

An evolutionist said, “You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle, in other words, he is going to die in the pit so he can’t produce any more pit-falling offspring.”

The county inspector said, “Did you have a permit to dig that pit?”

A professor gave him a lecture on the elementary principles of the pit.

A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit.”

An optimist said, “Things could get worse in the pit.”

A pessimist said, “Things are going to get worse in the pit.”

A sympathetic person said, “That’s a pity.”

A Fundamentalist said, "I'll get you out of the pit, but for accountability purposes, since I'm biblical, you'll have to agree with me about every secondary and tertiary doctrinal issue, obey 100% of my extra-biblical advice and counsel, and get my permission for personal life decisions at the expense of church discipline if you don't."

But, Jesus saw the man in the pit and in love, grace, gentleness, and compassion took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit, and said, "try not to fall in the pit anymore."

This leads us to examine ourselves. The question today is this: Who are you most like? Can we truly say our actions follow after Jesus? Remember the words of King David, one of the biggest "failures" in the Old Testament, and yet, "a man after God's own heart."

Psalm 51:10-13 (Legacy Standard Bible) - "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You."