Over the last
few weeks, I have noticed an alarming trend that is growing within the body of
Christ. From the controversy surrounding a major fast food chain and a myriad
of snippets posted on Facebook, I’m
concerned that the church has lost something of great significance concerning
its purpose. Put simply, we have misunderstood the love of God to the point of rendering us ineffective to make an
impact upon the world we live in. We certainly know that God loves us and that
He loves others. We can stand upon the truth of John 3:16 and confidently
proclaim that God loves the world; however, the problem we face is in
understanding what God’s love
actually means. For too many, His love is equated with this idea that we cannot
judge the fruit of righteous and unrighteous
living. In fact, many are now holding to the belief that it would be wrong for
us to hate the sin of others because we have enough sin in our own lives to
worry about. We’ve created a new church culture that holds to an “I’m okay,
you’re okay” mentality and we’re all in the sin boat together so let’s not talk
about it! We so want to love people into
the kingdom of God and make them feel warm and cozy about Jesus that we
forget, unless there is a reckoning of one’s sin, THERE IS NO SALVATION! Without
a world seeing its sin for what it is, the idea of Jesus makes no sense.
Furthermore, how does a world that is blinded in deception even begin to
recognize sin if the church is not revealing the truth of their condition?
Jesus gave the
church the commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of
the nations” (Matthew 28:19).
In other words, we are called to reach this world with the message of the
gospel and to reproduce disciples who follow Jesus Christ. Part of this mission
is in embracing God’s expectations concerning sin. God’s Word has commanded the
church to address the subject of sin on an ongoing basis:
“Have nothing to do with
the fruitless deeds of darkness (sin) but rather EXPOSE them” (Ephesians
5:11).
“The acts of the sinful nature
as obvious…I WARN you as I did before that those who live like this will not
inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
“It is God’s will that you
should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality…the Lord will
punish men for all such sins, as we have already TOLD you and WARNED you” (1
Thessalonians 4:3-6)
“The Spirit clearly says
that in the later times some will abandon the faith and following deceiving
spirits…if you POINT THESE THINGS OUT to the brothers you will be a good
minister of Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 4:1-6).
Sin should be
and needs to be dealt within the culture of the church. We are to be a people
who warn and tell others about the devastating consequences that sin brings to
our lives. We are to recognize sin and to eradicate it from our lives and from
the church! If we do not do these things, we fail to exercise the love of God
to others. Avoiding the obvious sin of others and looking the other way because
we do not want to offend, is much
like letting your child run into a busy street after a ball. If you love your
brother and sister in Christ, you much rather offend them to the pathway of
life than to condemn them to the highway of death. Sin ALWAYS has consequence.
We have biblical permission to point sin out in other’s lives---not to condemn,
but to show love and help them to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
We too often
forget that the message of the gospel is “repent for the kingdom of God
is near” (Matthew3:2, 4:17).
Even Peter’s first sermon after Pentecost made no mention of God’s love;
rather, Peter pointed out the people’s sin and there need to recognize Jesus
Christ as the only one who can save (see
Acts 2). We cannot convince the world that Jesus loves them by making them
believe that being a Christian will give them a better life. God’s love can
only be understood in light of the subject of sin. By the church refusing to
stand for righteousness, holiness, and truth, we refuse to show the world God’s
love! As God’s people, we need to
address sin in our society and call this world to repentance. Why do we think
it is impossible to hate sin and love the sinner? Our hypocrisy in the church
screams when we will not hesitate to rally for a good cause that will help
someone in a crisis. We hate what the person is going through and we’ll even
voice our concern over their condition. We’ll ask things like, “What are you
going to do about your cancer? What is your plan in looking for a new job? How
will you handle life during this divorce?” Yet, we won’t address the sin that
is destroying their lives more than any crisis they will ever face because we
are afraid as being seen as offensive and unloving. Do we really think we’re
going to give Jesus a bad name in proclaiming His position on sin? The time has
come for us to quit being cowards for Christ and boldly make a stand against
sin---both in the church and the world---and throw away the notion that
offending someone cannot be loving them at the same time. As Paul said, “Yet
when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to
me if I do not preach the gospel” (1
Corinthians 9:16). This gospel was
more than “God loves you,” but it most certainly addressed the sinfulness of
man and his need for a Savior.
In the end, we
need to realize that as believers, we are to hate sin! Regardless of whose sin
it is, we are to hate what God hates. We must refuse the postmodern, emergent
theological garbage that suggests Christianity is permissive, understanding,
and all-inclusive religion. God does so love the world; but He showed
that love by being crucified because of our sin that expresses itself in things
like sexual immorality, homosexuality, lying, cheating, stealing, rebellion,
hatred, and jealously to name a few. Sin
is the problem and will always be man’s one dilemma in life. The answer is
simple in showing the world the love of Christ: first show them the sin that
separates them from a loving God who gave all He could possibly give, and by
doing so, they will recognize the depths of God’s love that has called them “out
of darkness into the wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
