180 Faith

According to Mark, the beginning f the good news of Jesus Christ was predicated on the work of John the Baptist who came "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins"(Mark 1:4).  John's preaching,which prepared men to accept Chrst, called men and women to turn from their lives of missing the mark of God's calling (harmatia - sin) to following the way of the Lord.

Sin, by the way, is not always obvious wrong or even evil in and of itself. Sin is to miss the mark of God's calling on your life. Sometimes that is obvious: God calls you to faithfulness and you commit adultery - obvious sin. Sometimes it is not so obvious: Gd gifts you with tremendous musical talent to allow you to lead worship in a powerful way, but not being close enough in your walk with him to hear that call, you choose a career in the secular music industry - not obvious missing of God's mark.

An example of ths concept of repentance, which calls us to make a 180 degree turn in our lives but not from an obvious sin or even sin at all in itself is when Jesus called Simon (Peter) and Andrew: "Come follow me...At once they left their nets and followed him" (Mark 1:17-18). They were nt sinning being fishermen but to have failed to accept Jesus' call would have been to miss God's Mark for them. 

Think about this - the call to make a 180 degree turn in fath isn't always about moving from bad to good, sometimes it is turning from good to better and even better to best. In whatever way we are falling short of God's desire for our lives, we are sinning and need to make that turn as soon as we become aware of it. 

I'm not particularly saying that to fail to recognize a calling of God and pursue it means you are a condemned sinner, targeted for hell. I don't think salvation necessarily enters in to every discussion of repentance. Sometimes repentance is simply about making a turn from pursuing your dreams to pursuing His calling - moving from good to better or best.   Jus' Sayn.