Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin?
FBC Albemarle
November 13, 2016
My guess is we’ve all said this saying, “Love the sinner, hate the sin” at some
point in our lives. As we finish up the Half Truths series, we are going to dig a little
deeper in this often-used phrase. I must tell you, I’ve used this one a lot in my
ministry and I’ve had to challenge my own theology on this one.
First, I think it is important to define sin. The Greek word hamartia, most
often translated as SIN in English essentially mean “to miss the mark” or “to stray
from the path.” So when the Bible refers to sin, it points to missing the mark or
straying from the path of God’s intentions and will for us. I believe we can miss the
mark when we intentionally or unintentionally fail to live up to God’s intentions for
our lives. It also includes failure to act or failing to do something we should. That is
why some of our Christian friends from other traditions often pray, “Have mercy
upon us, most merciful Father; in your compassion forgive us our sins, known and
unknown, things done and left undone…” Anytime we have deviated from the path
God calls us to, we have sinned.
It is obvious that we have all sinned. Romans 3:23 remind us, “All have
sinned and fall short of God’s glory.” Even though we have placed our faith and trust
in Jesus, we are like Paul, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not
want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Rom. 7:19)
So if we all miss the mark and deviate from what God has called us to and we
keep doing the things we do not want to do, the next logical question is “Are all sins
equal?” My answer is “yes” and “no.”
Yes, all sin separates us from the love of God. One of the best things in the
world is a hot Krispy Kreme donut. When it first comes off the line and the glaze is
still hot, the donut simply melts in your mouth. There is no doubt that I could easily
eat a dozen donuts at one time if they are hot. Obviously, this would not be good for
my health and if I did this often enough, I would eventually have dire consequences
from my gluttony. The donuts could literally kill me.
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However, I would not put eating a dozen donuts at one time in the same
category as committing a heinous crime against another person such as murder. So
YES, all sin separates us from God. When I allow gluttony to take over my life, it puts
the focus on my own needs and meeting my own desires. That takes me away from
God’s intentions for my life. Wages of sin is death. But NO, there are very little
earthly consequences for gluttony compared to the harm I could cause if I went out
and killed another person. Not only would I have harmed the person I kill but it
would also harm his family and friends. The consequences are vastly different.
The fact of the matter is most of the time when we say, “love the sinner, hate
the sin,” we are either trying to hide our judgmental attitudes or make excuses for
someone we are trying to protect. Most people point to Romans 12:9 as their
justification for the saying. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is
good.” In this verse, Paul is telling his readers to not hate the sin in someone else’s
life but the evil that is in their own lives. There is a vast difference in pointing out sin
in someone else and being aware of your own sin.
Let’s take each phrase of our saying and break it down a little more. First,
“love the sinner.” There is a lot of truth in “love the sinner.” The only problem is that
it is just not in the Bible. In his book, Adam Hamilton writes, “Though Jesus certainly
loved sinners, he never actually said, “Love the sinner.” What he did say (and it is an
important distinction) is “Love your neighbor.””
Is this just semantics? Maybe. Maybe not. You see, when we see each other as
sinners, we are making a judgment. We are focusing on the ways others have missed
the mark or strayed from the path of God’s intentions. The very nature of it is
judgmental. Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s
eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your
brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
What Jesus did say was to love our neighbors. Our neighbors are the people
we know and have a relationship with and people who we do not know. Our
neighbor is the person beside you and around you. Our neighbor is also the people
in our community that you do not know or the people across the world that we have
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never met or will probably ever meet. Therefore, to love our neighbors is to do good
for all people, seeking to bless and encourage them. It means to show kindness to all
people without judgment of whether one deserves it or not.
To take it a step further, loving our neighbor includes loving our enemies,
which is something Jesus also said. “Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you that you may be sons and daughters of your Father.” (Matt. 5:44-45)
When we love our enemies by returning blessings for hatred, we create possibilities
for transformed situations and relationships. Think about our presidential elections
that we have just endured. Think about how different it would have been if rather
than attacking the other side, Christians would have sought ways to bless the
opposition. It certainly would have transformed the election process and had a
tremendous impact on the kingdom of God.
Hamilton writes in his book, “I think Jesus knew that if he commanded his
disciples to “love the sinner,” they would begin looking at other people more as
sinners than as neighbors.” I think Hamilton is right. When we look through the
paradigm of “loving our neighbors” rather than “loving the sinner,” we tend to not
focus on the sins but rather the person. “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.
You’ll receive the same judgment you give.” (Matt. 7:1) The cycle of judgment will
never stop if we focus on each other’s sin.
Next, let’s take a deeper look into “hate the sin.” Once again, on the surface,
this seems to be a “no brainer.” Of course we are to hate sin. How could this possibly
be wrong? Unfortunately, it is. When we name the sin, it is typically not our own sin
that we are naming. We are naming the sins of someone else. That leads to
judgment.
Jesus never said, “I love you, but I hate your sin.” Whenever he encountered
sinful people, he talked about forgiveness rather than the sin. When the woman was
caught in adultery and was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees, he did not condemn
her by saying, “I love you, but I hate your sin.” He first asked if anyone was without
sin to throw the first stone. Then, after everyone had left, Jesus said to the woman,
“Go and sin no more.” It was never out of condemnation. It was out of sense of love
and forgiveness.
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When Jesus hung on the cross between two thieves, one hurled insults at him
and the other recognized that Jesus did not deserve such a horrific death. Even in
the moment before his death, Jesus spoke words of forgiveness. “Today you will be
with me in paradise.”
The only times Jesus displayed a sense of condemnation and indignation
were toward the religious leaders who were taking advantage of the people while
trying to protect their own power. Jesus turned over the tables of the merchants in
the temple because the religious leaders allowed them to rip off the poor by
charging them exorbitant rates to exchange their currency or to buy sacrificial
animals. He also became angry toward his disciples when they tried to keep the little
children from coming to Jesus. He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do
not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Yes, there are times for righteous indignation. When sin harms, oppresses or
do evil to others, we should speak up. When thousands of children die of starvation,
we should be moved to do something. When racism and injustices are evident, we
must stand up for what is right. When women and children are sold into sexual
slavery, we need to be indignant. There are many things in the world that should
make us angry and keep us up at night.
However, when we say, “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” we are typically more
focused on comparing our own sin with those of others and condemning them to
hide our own. Rather than naming the sins of others, we should ask God to name the
sins in our own lives and give us the courage to work on them in Jesus name. Our job
is not to convict others of their sins. Our job is to love our neighbor unconditionally,
just as Jesus loves us unconditionally.
Hamilton writes, “The truth in “love the sinner, hate the sin” stops with the
first word: LOVE. Let’s love one another and strive to lay aside our own sin, while
demonstrating humility and grace towards others.” Jesus said, “By this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
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