I was recently sent an article by a well-meaning Christian friend. The article ripped into the concept of "love the sinner, hate the sin," claiming it was a bad idea. It was a long article, and not surprisingly, had zero Bible quotes.
To start with a point of alignment with the article, I'll admit there are two quotes on my website from Tommy Sparger of North Point Church: "Jesus was never defined by what he was against... I think the church (Christianity) has fallen into the trap of being defined by what it's against..." And "if we knew anything about 'the lost' surely we'd know enough not to call them 'lost'." (Jesus did in Luke 19:10 and Matthew 18:11, but He's God and we're not.) As a whole, surely the Church has earned this criticism. But that doesn't mean we drop the baton of telling the world what God has told us (in the Bible) and helping everyone have a better understanding of God's character. (All Bible quotes in this post are from the World English Bible.)
I specifically address love the sinner, hate the sin, in one of the most controversial sections of my Gender Identity feature (here). This theme isn't something we should wear on our sleeve, but neither is it something we should dismiss, nor publicly write against. I think the person who disapproves of "love the sinner, hate the sin" has either encountered too many Christians who abused this concept (for which I truly sympathize with the receiver and apologize on behalf of the offender) or they spend most of their time only rereading the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul, plus possibly the token Old Testament books of Psalms and Proverbs. But just to be clear, hating sin is there, too:
"Love the sinner, hate the sin" is just an expression, a terse, succinct articulation of a concept that says we should love people while not promoting, endorsing, nor normalizing choices that God specifically told us will make Him mad. If you're just hung up on the terminology, possibly because The Left has ruined the word "hate" by overusing and demonizing it, then perhaps call it "love people, avoid sin," or "maximize people, minimize sin." Or just skip it, but don't be insulted when another Christian says this. If you're insulted then what's probably happening is you don't like their style. You don't like the way they're presenting it, and I can only sympathize with that. I'm just reminding us what the Bible says. Accepting "love the sinner, hate the sin" as an even somewhat accurate theological concept doesn't mean we have to criticize people, but it does mean we don't entertain laws or other practices that normalize sin. Just skim the writings of Paul for some summaries of sins (like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 or Romans 1:28-32) and may God forbid we ever normalize any of them. Even worse is protecting those sins and giving them marriage benefits for publicly bragging about it. All people deserve protection, but not all choices do.
I had lunch with that well-meaning Christian friend who sent me that article, a couple days later. She shared that too many people in her life who used this phrase, used it in self-righteousness, pointing to the sins of others while ignoring or even denying the sin in themselves. While that's still not a reason to say this isn't in the Bible, it's a valid disclaimer that we should never get self-righteous. Jesus had compassion on sinners and condemned the self-righteous. He used the word "hypocrite" 17 times, and 9 of those had an exclamation point in the NIV translation (here). It's a dangerous trap to become self-righteous. But we can remember Romans 3:10, Romans 2:19-22, and scenarios like Deuteronomy 9:4-6. And of course, there's a difference between hating sin and judging (or condemning) people. A mature Christian is able to politely, lovingly tell a friend (or stranger) that certain choices are defined as sin in God's word, yet keep it clear that people can still be accepted as human beings, and even friends. Calling sin "sin" is (can be) noticeably different than judging people. Perhaps that'll be a blog for another day (Matthew 7:1-5, John 7:24). Loving people doesn't mean we allow anyone to pass laws protecting choices that God told us would make Him mad. Remind this to your representatives and senators every chance you get (at least once a month).
To start with a point of alignment with the article, I'll admit there are two quotes on my website from Tommy Sparger of North Point Church: "Jesus was never defined by what he was against... I think the church (Christianity) has fallen into the trap of being defined by what it's against..." And "if we knew anything about 'the lost' surely we'd know enough not to call them 'lost'." (Jesus did in Luke 19:10 and Matthew 18:11, but He's God and we're not.) As a whole, surely the Church has earned this criticism. But that doesn't mean we drop the baton of telling the world what God has told us (in the Bible) and helping everyone have a better understanding of God's character. (All Bible quotes in this post are from the World English Bible.)
John 1:14: The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.If we emphasize grace and ignore truth, we get relativism (chaos). If we emphasize truth and ignore grace, we get legalism. We must be both light and salt to the world, not one without the other (Matthew 5:13-16). I'm going to offer an alternative perspective from that laid out in the article (and by many well-meaning Christians). It seemed to be emphasizing grace (love) and, while not ignoring truth, was not leaning very heavily on it. It made a halfway decent point, but had illustrations which claimed: "it's not in the Bible" and "said Jesus never", but those aren't accurate claims. Here are some succinct verses:
- Isaiah 61:8: For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity.
- Amos 5:15: Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts...
- Hebrews 1:8-9: of the Son he says... You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
- Jude 1:22-23: On some have compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
- Revelation 2:6: But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
I specifically address love the sinner, hate the sin, in one of the most controversial sections of my Gender Identity feature (here). This theme isn't something we should wear on our sleeve, but neither is it something we should dismiss, nor publicly write against. I think the person who disapproves of "love the sinner, hate the sin" has either encountered too many Christians who abused this concept (for which I truly sympathize with the receiver and apologize on behalf of the offender) or they spend most of their time only rereading the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul, plus possibly the token Old Testament books of Psalms and Proverbs. But just to be clear, hating sin is there, too:
- Psalm 36:1-2: An inner sanctuary is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked... he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.
- Psalms 45:7: You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
- Psalms 97:10: You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Romans 12:9: Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
Ezekiel 18:20-23: The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him. But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?Just because Jesus didn't say "love the sinner, hate the sin" verbatim, doesn't mean He didn't speak that way. And just because He didn't always speak this way (and why would anyone) doesn't necessarily follow that He never did.
- Matthew 11:20: Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent.
- John 5:14: Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you."
- John 8:11: Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”
"Love the sinner, hate the sin" is just an expression, a terse, succinct articulation of a concept that says we should love people while not promoting, endorsing, nor normalizing choices that God specifically told us will make Him mad. If you're just hung up on the terminology, possibly because The Left has ruined the word "hate" by overusing and demonizing it, then perhaps call it "love people, avoid sin," or "maximize people, minimize sin." Or just skip it, but don't be insulted when another Christian says this. If you're insulted then what's probably happening is you don't like their style. You don't like the way they're presenting it, and I can only sympathize with that. I'm just reminding us what the Bible says. Accepting "love the sinner, hate the sin" as an even somewhat accurate theological concept doesn't mean we have to criticize people, but it does mean we don't entertain laws or other practices that normalize sin. Just skim the writings of Paul for some summaries of sins (like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 or Romans 1:28-32) and may God forbid we ever normalize any of them. Even worse is protecting those sins and giving them marriage benefits for publicly bragging about it. All people deserve protection, but not all choices do.
I had lunch with that well-meaning Christian friend who sent me that article, a couple days later. She shared that too many people in her life who used this phrase, used it in self-righteousness, pointing to the sins of others while ignoring or even denying the sin in themselves. While that's still not a reason to say this isn't in the Bible, it's a valid disclaimer that we should never get self-righteous. Jesus had compassion on sinners and condemned the self-righteous. He used the word "hypocrite" 17 times, and 9 of those had an exclamation point in the NIV translation (here). It's a dangerous trap to become self-righteous. But we can remember Romans 3:10, Romans 2:19-22, and scenarios like Deuteronomy 9:4-6. And of course, there's a difference between hating sin and judging (or condemning) people. A mature Christian is able to politely, lovingly tell a friend (or stranger) that certain choices are defined as sin in God's word, yet keep it clear that people can still be accepted as human beings, and even friends. Calling sin "sin" is (can be) noticeably different than judging people. Perhaps that'll be a blog for another day (Matthew 7:1-5, John 7:24). Loving people doesn't mean we allow anyone to pass laws protecting choices that God told us would make Him mad. Remind this to your representatives and senators every chance you get (at least once a month).