This morning, we’re looking at another phrase that has been around for a long time: I don’t hear the saying so much anymore, but I see the attitude in practice. “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
Like the others we’ve explored this week, it sounds biblical. It isn’t.
The sentiment behind it is somewhat understandable. On the one hand, we’re called to take sin seriously, and, on the other, we’re called to love people. It’s a balancing act. Holding truth and grace together has always been part of the challenge of following Jesus. But one point to remember, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, the greatest gift is love. Love should always be our default position.
That aside, the real trouble comes when the saying becomes easier to apply to other people than to ourselves. When that happens, it’s so easy for us to become hypocrites. It’s the “do what I say, not what I do” syndrome.
Jesus seemed to know this tendency well.
“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?” he asked. We become experts at identifying the shortcomings and failures of others while overlooking—or explaining away—our own.
Their impatience is a character flaw. Mine is just the result of a stressful week.
Their anger is sinful. Mine is righteous concern.
Their gossip is destructive. Mine is simply sharing information so others can pray.
The line between loving the person and hating the act can become suspiciously convenient when we’re the ones deciding which deserve attention and which deserve grace.
Before correcting others, Jesus invited his followers to examine their own hearts. Before picking up stones, he invited them to remember their own need for grace.
Perhaps the better question isn’t whether we’re hating sin enough in others. Perhaps it’s whether we’re allowing God to deal with the sin in us.
The wonderful news of the gospel is that God’s grace is large enough for both. Perhaps we need to spend more time and attention on allowing God to forgive us and remembering that God loves us enough not to leave us unchanged. And trust that God will do the same for others.
I’m not saying that we never speak against wrongdoing or speak to anyone about something destructive in their life and faith. But when our message, spoken or unspoken, is, “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” the first word heard is “hate.” And because it’s the first word, it’s often the only word heard. The word we want heard – first, last, and always – is “love.”
Just another thought to ponder.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I notice the faults of others more quickly than my own. Help me to focus on myself more, and others less. When I need to speak, help me to speak truth with love, but in all things remind me to extend mercy freely and reflect the compassion that you have shown to me in Christ. Amen.
