Rong, over at The Requiest has a thoughtful post on hating sin. He has trouble hating sin while still engaging the sinners in the culture around him. God has been convicting me lately that I have a different struggle -- too often I love the sinner while having a mild distaste for the sin.
I realized that I've always taken a certain pride at not being shocked by sin. Growing up in Sarasota, a very liberal city, and spending a lot of years in the punk rock scene can make you a little jaded. And so I freely form friendships and share the Gospel with punks, Pagans, gays and a lot of other groups that many Christians recoil from. They don't shock me.
But I realized I needed to repent of that pride. In large measure my openness with them isn't because I'm just overflowing with the love of Christ (though I do care about them), but because I don't hate sin the way I ought. I hate sin in my own life, but I see now that I've been a bit blasé about its existence in the world around me.
That's not to say that I water down the Bible's ethical teachings, or that I've "gone wobbly" on morality. But knowing, believing and teaching that something is wrong isn't the same thing as hating it. There's something visceral about hate -- it touches the heart as well as the mind.
So that's been my prayer recently -- that I would hate the things that God hates, while loving those that He loves.
Posted by Discoshaman at juin 4, 2004 12:47 AM | TrackBack
Thanks for the plug.
My problem is in being to take the ME out of the equation. I need to learn to hate the sinner because God hates them and not because I feel personally slighted be their sin. I have to constantly remind myself that it's not about me, DUH! I pray that as I come to take this to heart that I will be able to not only see a persons transgressions towards God, but with the same fervent intensity, I will love them as His creation and so desire all the more to bring them to know my Lord.
Good thoughts.
Posted by: Paul Baxter at juin 5, 2004 07:14 PMI know the feeling.
Posted by: pentamom at juin 7, 2004 07:31 PMIn large measure my openness with them isn't because I'm just overflowing with the love of Christ (though I do care about them), but because I don't hate sin the way I ought. I hate sin in my own life, but I see now that I've been a bit blasé about its existence in the world around me.
Wow! Those are great thoughts, and very well put.
Posted by: Robert Williams at juin 14, 2004 07:40 PM