We Christians have many mantras that guide our lives. Sometimes, our mantras are derived from the very petty (like bumper stickers) and sometimes from the Bible (which we consider to have a mystical authority for the believer and sometimes we use unhelpful language to describe this authority, but that will be an article I write later). In an effort to dive into some of these mantras, break them down, and maybe even build them back up again, I will be examining some of the most common. The goal here is to arrive at some clarity. Many of us affectionately call Christian insider language, “Christian-ese” – it is its own language that requires some inside information in order to understand. Its not a bad thing, per se, but sometimes we use Christian-ese so much we actually lose sight of what it is we’re talking about and we end up having a skewed view of the thing at hand believing things, as a result of the insider language, that were never meant to be communicated.
That said, lets examine this common one: Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin.
This is a very common one and one that is, for some reason, particularly touted by street preachers or other types of evangelists. The concept here is fairly simple: God loves people, all people, but he does not love sin. He loves the sinner and hates the sin. Seems pretty basic right?
Wrong.
Somehow, this mantra has led to abusive and manipulative evangelistic practices. Here’s how it goes:
Jim: Hi, are you a Christian?
Sherry: Well, I believe in God, but I’m not sure how he feels about me – I’m a lesbian.
Jim: Homosexuality is an ABOMINATION!!!!!!1!! No homosexual can ever approach God. God HATES homosexuality and that is why he DESTROYED Sodom and Gomorrah. There is no greater sin than being a homosexual and surely the homosexuals will all BURN IN HELL!!!!
Sherry: *Crying*
Jim: *Consoling* But, hey, God still loves you…
Do you see the problem? In our efforts to communicate the truth of the Gospel (that God really does hate sin while loving sinners) we’ve managed to convince ourselves that the two are completely separate, unrelated things. We think that we can rail against sin using whatever vitriolic language we choose without the sinner feeling the hate behind it. As a result, we yell from the top of our lungs about all those sins that God hates (forgetting, of course, about our own) which inevitably results in the communicated message – whether intended or not – that God also hates those who engage in such behaviors. We need to face the facts: no matter how hard we try to communicate it otherwise, people associate themselves with their actions. If God hates homosexuality so damn much, why wouldn’t he hate the person who is a homosexual?
The problem lies not in the mantra itself, but in which side of the coin we tend to land on. That which occupies the majority of our talk-time also occupies the minds and hearts of our listeners. The unfortunate part of this is that it seems like when we are inside the four walls of the church we talk about nothing but how we should be loving others, but once we walk out that door we show our true colors, demonizing and condemning those who sin (again forgetting about our own sins) and communicating the message that God is out to get back at those who have been living their lives sinning.
Is it possible to love the sinner and hate the sin? Yes, it is. But in order to do this, we need to keep a delicate balance between our talk and our actions – or, at the very least, our talk needs to be well seasoned with grace, mercy, and unconditional love. In fact, if we are to err on one side of the coin – loving the sinner or hating the sin – we should err on the side of the former. If any message needs to be communicated to the world it is one of love.
And that means letting our words and actions being more focused on the former.
There are many today who believe that the means is the message – me being one of the them. As Christians, we’ve mistakenly assumed that so long as we use the right words and say the right things – regardless of how we come across – God be glorified because we are doing our job. But this is not the case. To the contrary, the way in which we communicate our message: our body language, the inflection of our voice, etc. – this actually becomes the message. That means that saying “God loves you” angrily and with condemnation in our voices is a contradiction in terms. It would be like telling someone that violence is bad by striking your fist against their face.
So it is with loving the sinner and hating the sin. When we acknowledge that God loves sinners, but can only manage to talk about the sin which he hates, we are striking our listeners in their faces, bludgeoning them until they die from exhaustion and turn away once and for all.
And this, my friends, may be one of the most horrendous sins of all: to push another away because we took not the time to love – that is an abomination.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Balance, Evangelism, God, Gospel, Hypocrisy, Jesus, Love, Sin, Tension
