Hate the sin. Love the sinner.

“Hate the sin. Love the sinner.” I’ve heard this phrase my entire life and it has never sat well with me. In fact, it makes me cringe to my core. Like when I hear it, I have to physically restrain myself from slapping someone. Repeatedly. It’s not that I don’t understand the concept. The Bible says to hate evil and to love people. But the phrase “hate the sin, love the sinner” is so callous and is usually said in a pompous way by someone who knows very little about love. It lacks grace. In fact, most people I hear say it are so focused on the speck in “the sinners” eye that they miss the log in their own.  

Throughout the gospels, Jesus rebuked one group of people over and over again. It wasn’t the promiscuous woman at the well. The prostitute. Or even the men who betrayed Him. It was The Pharisees. The Know It All scholars that knew the law so well they often repeated it and very rarely lived it. They picked on the very ones Christ actually came to earth to serve. Oh, how I relate to The Pharisees.

I am so guilty of judging, gossiping, turning my back on the very people Jesus died for, all because of my being uncomfortable. Take Muslims for example. I get that some of their religion is radical. I get that because of recent events, many are fearful to trust this entire people group. But does that mean I’m not to show them love? Does that mean that they are beyond saving? If I disagree with homosexual marriage, does that give me the right to say they are all going to hell? To not welcome them in my church? In my home? We are so quick to rebuke that which makes us uncomfortable, yet we are okay with gluttony and gossip and the sin of judging? Moreover, if I truly thought someone was going to hell, shouldn’t that make me want to take them to church, to cultivate a relationship with them, to show them Christ?

The more I read Scripture, the more it becomes clear that Jesus really only has 2 commands….to love Him and to love people. Let’s be honest. Loving Him isn’t hard. Sure, there are times where we struggle with understanding His goodness, but how hard is it to love the Creator of the universe, the One who sent His Son to die in our place? Loving people is a whole other issue. 1 John 4:21 says that anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. I hate to burst bubbles here, but John isn’t referring to your blood relatives. He is saying that if you love God you will love ALL people. We are to love those who treat us like crap. Those who use us. Muslims. Those we are jealous of. Drug users. Illegal aliens. The poor. Basically, anyone who makes us uncomfortable. I am not saying that we need to change the Bible to meet the needs of our culture. I’m not saying we are to ignore sin. In fact, what was it Jesus said to the prostitute after he saved her from being stoned by The Pharisees? He said “Go and sin no more.” I’m saying it’s God’s job to judge and convict. Period. It’s our job to love people in such a radical way that they can’t help but see The Holy Spirit in us. Period. You see, there’s no conviction if there is no Holy Spirit. Our job is to love people to Jesus so that The Holy Spirit can convict them, but how can we do that with our doors shut?

A few months ago, I took a look at my life and I realized that most, if not all of my friends looked like me, talked like me, believed like me. Most of them had the same socioeconomic status as me. In fact, most of them were raised like me. Then I realized that that is NOT the way the church is meant to look. I’m not saying you have to stop going to a church because it’s predominantly white. Or you need to get new friends. I am saying that God wants us to be surrounded by all types of people, Christian and Nonchristian. Rich and poor. I will be the first to admit that I’ve struggled with this. Out of my own insecurity, I believed that I shouldn’t go to certain places or be with certain people. And in some instances I shouldn’t, but I was also living in a bubble. I was worried about what someone might think if they saw me at a bar? What if they judged me for having atheist friends? What if I hurt my witness by having a glass of wine?

In reading the Gospels, I’m reminded of the places where Jesus went. He most definitely was in church. He had the 12 Disciples whom He loved deeply, prayed and fellowshipped with. He always spent precious, alone time with the Father. But He also ate with tax collectors. He healed the no namers. He had women in His inner circle. I believe this gives us the freedom to believe that Jesus went out of His way to love those NOT at church. He didn’t have brunch with the church leaders. He went out of His way to find the sinners. Period. But don’t miss the fact that while He went to those places, He never sinned with them. I am tired of Christians, especially leaders, trying to win souls to the Lord by being “cool.” Jesus never changed His character regardless of where He was. There is no need to tweek the Gospel to make it cooler. There is nothing more incredible than a Savior loving you so much that He died in your place.  Basking in cultural norms for the sake of not scaring off new believers is heresy. Jesus was strategic and purposeful in all His encounters. As also we should be.

As a mother, I want nothing more than my boys to love Jesus. In my need to shelter and “protect” them, I have done them a great disservice of turning my back on the people Christ put in my path. If I were to continue, I would be raising a bunch of Pharisees. As they grow older and start their own families, I want them to remember their Mama as someone who loved sinners. Does this mean I let them sit at a table as an unbeliever curses profusely? Absolutely not. Does this mean I get drunk with unbelievers? No way. But it does mean I ask sinners into my home. To eat at my table. To fellowship with those I love most, regardless of our differences. People, we have to invite sinners to our table. We have to love them. We have to get our fill from the Lord, from our 12, and go forth into the hard places. We have to be different as we serve sinners because the world has enough Pharisees. We have to shower people with love and grace. After all, isn’t that what we want Christ to do for us?