Recently a young gay man has featured in the Fredericton news for claiming to have been dismissed from a church job because of his sexuality. It sure sounds like he was right, and beyond that, it sounds like why he was really let go has to do with fear of homosexuality.
It is hard to know, I think the journalists covering it are trying to be impartial, but to be fair, it is a heated issue, everyone is self-protective, and most issues in life are not black and white.
What I want to argue against is the whole “hate the sin, love the sinner” attitude that a lot of people seem to adopt as a strategy. As you might expect, I disagree with it.
First and foremost, If you are really arguing from a biblical perspective, or more importantly a literalist interpretation of believing the Bible is the absolute truth, where do you find it ever saying such a nonsensical statement.
The closest I can find would be in Matthew where Jesus is supposed to have told us to love our enemies… but it says nothing about sin, and it does not say our enemies are sinful… quite the opposite, it says they are fellow humans worthy of love.
Even if you take a proof text that includes most of the words of the phrase: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” which we find in Paul’s letter to the church of Rome (12:9) it is surely a stretch to say this has anything to do with other people’s actions.
Far to the opposite point of view, Jesus says quite explicitly to the gathered mob, “whichever of you is without sin, go ahead, cast the first stone and kill this woman” when an adulterer is confronted.
Have you ever tried to make a list of what is sinful according to the Bible? I guarantee you are included, no matter who you are. After all, it is sinful to eat lobster, and to wear cotton/rayon blends. It is sinful to charge interest on a loan and to turn your lights on during the Sabbath. The list goes on and on and in fact includes something for everyone.
The whole point of Jesus’ little diatribe was that he knew there was not one person who could cast the stone, nor could any of us. My point being, we are all sinners so that is a whole lot of hatred going on if we truly believe that all of this is a sin.
But more important is cultural context. Do you know why it is a sin to eat a lobster? Because the Israelites lived in the desert, that is the only reason. I once ordered a bowl of seafood chowder in the rain forest of Guatemala. I knew better, but I was tired of chicken and corn tortillas for every meal. I was sick for a week. If you have no refrigeration, and live in the hot, hot sun, stay away from seafood. In fact, to keep you alive, I am going to make that a religious rule, voila, it is a sin to eat lobster.
God, Moses, Jesus, none of them have anything against eating lobster, it was just a rule that made sense 4000 years ago.
Same as the whole Fish on Friday idea of the Catholic Church; it was a petition to the Pope by almost bankrupt fishermen that got that onto the religious books.
Sorry, I don’t mean to make anyone mad, but use common sense, when we decide that actions are sinful, we truly are picking and choosing what we dislike from the Bible. All of us do it, we focus on what we want and forget about the rest.
I wager that there is not a single thing that God actually finds sinful except not loving each other. In fact, when asked to boil it all down, Jesus said, love yourself, love God, love everyone else… do this and you are fine… and guess what… I can do that while being in love with a man, eating lobster, in my mixed fabric shirt.
7 comments:
Right on!!! Awesome article, Brett!!
Thank you for adding a theological perspective to this issue. So often conversations like these comes from places of irrational emotion instead of logical thought.
Your article is great. Unfortunately the logic is usually found among my non churched friends leaving me so often embarrassed by my relationship to my faith.
Would it not be wonderful if pastors were to give such ideas to the people from the pulpit and get church goers to become Christians so that the Christ like secular people and the Christ like churched people could then have such meaningful conversations as you have posted. Currently the bigots from the pews and the secular masses are leading the discussions.
Of course if Pastors said such things in churches they would be fired, which is a reflection of the church going population.
I could not agree with you more that we often come up with catchy clichés that are often unbiblical, or at least have no direct bible verse to support. A common one is “asking Jesus into our hearts.” The Bible does call us to a life of love, even loving our enemies (Matthew 5:44) as you mentioned. However, just because a single verse cannot be found that says “Love the sinner, hate the sin” does not mean that the Bible supports the concept. Think of the word Trinity, not a single verse can be found using that term although we would both agree that scripture certainly supports the doctrine.
When it comes to sin, we are called to hate it and to confront it. Not hating or confronting sin is actually considered unloving, according to the Bible. In Romans 12:9, we are told it is our duty to hate sin. If we claim to love God and our neighbor, then it is only logical that we hate sin. Sin stains the fellowship that we have with God and with our neighbor. Just examine the Ten Commandments, each one is directly linked to love that is why Jesus could summarize all ten by stating just two (Luke 10:25-28): 1) Love God, and 2) Love your neighbor. If we love God, we will not worship other gods (money, fame, self, etc.), have no idols (family, career, creating our own view of God), taking the Lords name in vain (swearing, misrepresenting God), keeping the Sabbath (worshipping God everyday). If we love our “neighbor”, we will obey our parents, not murder (hatred), commit adultery (sex outside of what God has defined as marriage: between one man and one woman.), not steal, not lie, not covet what others have. I cannot think of anything more loving then staying within the boundaries that God has given us in these Commandments.
If we excuse or take sin lightly, then we are not being loving. How could we stand by and watch someone sin and take part in it or not condemn it and call ourselves loving (Habakkuk 1:13)? Sin is what separates that person from God and will keep that person from everlasting life (Romans 6:23). To allow someone to continue in a sinful lifestyle would be comparable to watching a blind man walk towards a cliff. If we actually do love that person, it would be our duty to confront them about their sin in a loving, concerned manner.
To use the story of the prostitute caught in adultery to support your case is a misunderstanding of Scripture. The mob was actually Pharisees and scribes who were trying to trap Jesus and cared nothing about justice or the woman. The Law of Moses required two things: 1) That the both parties in the act of adultery be stoned (Deut. 22:22), 2) The first stone thrown be from one who is sinless in connection with the crime (John 8:6-7). They also did not produce any witnesses who were required. The woman was guilty and Jesus did confront her sin by telling her to “sin no more”. What we learn from this teaching is that before we confront sin in others, we must first search our own hearts and minds and confront our own sin (Matthew 7:3). Once we have done that, then we are able to confront the sin (lovingly) in the lives of others.
Part 2
The second part of my issue with your article is either the gross neglect of Scripture or clear misunderstanding the Bible. The prohibitions in Leviticus can be broken down into those that apply to Israel at that time and in that place, and to those that apply to everyone in all times and in all places. The ceremonial regulations were given to the nation of Israel during the period of the Old Testament and should not be confused with the moral regulations binding upon all people in all times. My suggestion would be to become more familiar with the Old Testament as this confusion would be easily resolved and avoided. The ceremonial laws were abolished by Jesus and therefore, we are not sinning when we do not observe them. Take for example how you disregard Scripture by calling lobster eating sinful. Have you not read Mark 7:19 where Jesus declares all food clean? There are other examples of where Jesus abolishes these Old Testament laws (Acts 10, Ephesians 2:11-22, Galatians 3:28-29). Homosexuality, on the other hand, was not abolished and is in fact, is repeated in the New Testament. You must use the Bible to interpret the Bible. What you are doing in your argument is placing yourself as the judge of what God’s Word says. You are deciding what is relevant, obligatory and applicable. The reason I do not follow the dietary laws is not because I decided on my own that they were no longer applicable, but because God repealed them in His Word. We must not allow our own preferences to interpret the Bible otherwise we disregard the authority of Scripture. I do not “pick and chose” as you suggest in your article as that would be placing myself above God and therefore sinning.
My final issue is your “wager” regarding what God calls sinful. Again, you piously speak for God as to what is sin when He has already clearly declared it in His Word. Oh how my heart fears for your soul, please consider what you have said in the past and in this article. Honestly examine yourself to see if you are indeed in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5) and do not let pride get in the way of discovering this sin. I have not heard your testimony, but your comments are enough to cause me to be stirred regarding your salvation. I do not approach this issue self righteously, but as one grieved by the reproach that you bring towards the Captain of my salvation. Merely casting aside the truths of the Gospel for simply loving God and our neighbor’s and being fine is disregarding the very Word of God. The Bible is so clear on the issue of what declares us to be “fine”: repentance and faith. A Muslim, Hindu, Mormon can be loving towards God and others, but ultimately come under the wrath of God and cast into hell. Jesus says in Mark 1:14-15 while preaching the Gospel to “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” God commands us to repent (Acts 17:30) and believe in His Son (John 3:23 and 6:28-29). Then and only then will we be “fine”, otherwise you are not displaying love and misleading people who will come under the severe judgment of God.
I call you to repentance and to stop the rebellion towards God. The wages of sin are death and we are all like sheep who have gone astray. We all deserve the eternal punishment for our actions, but God has shown great mercy and love towards us. He sent His son to take your deserved punishment and to come under the full wrath of God. He was brutally tortured and murdered on your behalf. He died as a criminal on a Cross and was buried in a tomb. He defeated death and rose to live so that you could be declared righteous and not suffer eternal torment. It is a free and undeserving gift that He offers you. Please do not let your pride and arrogance get in the way of enjoying the freedom from sin and a relationship with the Creator of all things. Repent today…call upon the Lord to open your eyes to your sin and wicked heart. The trust the finished work of Jesus and in the complete authority of the Word of God. May God have mercy on your soul.
Bruce, in case you are still lurking out there and in case you actually want to give some thought to this,...
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogerwolsey/2014/01/16-ways-progressive-christians-interpret-the-bible/
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