Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Sports and Religion
Repent! Does it Really Mean What We Think?

Repent! Does it Really Mean What We Think?

Last updated on: September 29, 2025 at 12:41 am by Jim Meisner Jr.

0 Comments

Repent! Does it Really Mean What We Think? 2025-09-29T00:41:02-04:00 Jim Meisner Jr.

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Repent,” Jesus says in Matt. 4:17, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But does it really mean what we think?

Repent! Jesus pointing at us.

Courtesy of Lumo Project Films – www.lumoproject.com

Jesus says to repent a lot in the Bible.

“Repent.”

“Repent, you sinful generation.”

“Repent, you brood of vipers, repent.”

When kids on the playground get into a tussle, they shake hands, say they’re sorry and go back to being best friends again. They repent.

Bible study groups will scan dictionaries looking for the definition.

Repent comes from Middle French repentir and the Medieval Latin verb repoenitēre, meaning to regret or be sorry.

The oldest use of the word repent was in the 1100s. It came into wider use in the 1500s, around the time the King James Bible was created.

In Christian history the Church controlled the penitent by controlling repentance.

Faithful were required to repent, confess to a priest and pay or perform a penance to demonstrate sorrow for sinful ways.

With the Reformation and the translation of the Bible out of Latin, Christians learned that, wait a minute, the Bible doesn’t say what we’ve been told it says.

Our need for priests disappeared. We can read the Bible for ourselves. We can repent of our sins and petition the Lord ourselves.

Too many American Protestants completely ignorant of the history of Christianity have created the same sort of constricting church structures as the Catholic Church their ancestors fled.

American Christians expect the penitent to ‘accept’ Jesus and repent with the sinner’s prayer. All while still under the control of the (often male) minister.

Too many Christians think this is what Jesus means when he tells us to repent. They are mistaken.

When Jesus says to repent, he’s not telling us to feel sorry for what we’ve done or offer an apology.

A better translation of repent is to “turn away from what you’ve been doing, and do something different.”

So flip through your Bible, and you should flip through your Bible often if you’re a follower of Jesus, and every time Jesus says repent, translate that word correctly into “turn from your way of doing things.” Turn from what you’re doing and do this other thing.

Follow my way, Jesus tells us.

The problem with this translation is people can’t be controlled.

You don’t need a priest or a pastor.

You don’t need the Bible.

And you certainly don’t need a church or a congregation or a hierarchy of a denomination to have people turn from their way of living.

My denomination is the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I chose this denomination because we believe that we each have a relationship with the Lord. We can read scripture ourselves, reflect and respond. We don’t have ministers or denominations telling us what to think or believe.

The DOC, and others like it, are not about control and how you as a Christian should live.

It’s about how you as a follower of Jesus should live, how you turn away from what you were doing before and follow Jesus.

So repent, Jesus says, turn from your ways and follow me.

Each new day is a new opportunity to turn from the way we were going, and to follow Jesus anew. No matter how badly we screwed up today, Jesus says tomorrow is another day to try to turn and follow him.

That certainly sounds like good news to me.

For more from Jim, follow these links:

Trump Supporter Charlie Kirk was a Racist Bigot

Notes from a Sermon: How Do We Respond to the Current Culture?

Republicans Have Found Their Reichstag Moment

Remembering Civil Rights Martyr Jonathan Daniels

You can support Jim’s online ministry by shopping for books at Bookshop.org, where he’ll receive a commission. Thanks for your support.

Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball*,*** available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

Faith on the Fringe Jim Meisner Jr

Relationships and Religion

Faith

Scripture

Matt. 4:17

Previous Post

September 19, 2025

Republicans Have Found Their Reichstag Moment

Next Post

October 3, 2025 In a Violent World Remember Gandhi

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Jim Meisner reveals in this article his support for the likes of the heartless Biden ..."

notpc

Woody Guthrie’s Deportee

"Your reply to my earlier post suggests that you yourself do not know the Bible ..."

notpc

The Christian Response to Trump

"Jim Meisner is clearly blinded by hate that comes from the far Left propaganda lies ..."

notpc

The Christian Response to Trump

"I suggest you ask Jesus (the teacher, Matthew 23:8-10) to give you the understanding of ..."

notpc

The Christian Response to Trump

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Celtic spirituality Christmas Civil Rights culture Easter Faith images in the news Prayer Quote Scripture Uncategorized vocational ministry Writing

Select a Month August 2026 July 2026 May 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book comes immediately after Acts in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians Romans