How do you deal with sinners? Do you stay as far away from them as possible? Do you think they should be put to death? Do you love them yet still not accept their actions? Just how do you deal with sinners?
Can anyone answer those questions without knowing the sins??? We should be able to. But can we? Can I? I can't. Not yet. I don't know if I'll ever attain that ability to truly give unconditional love to everyone.
I am a sinner. Today I yelled at my kids. I did not practice patience. Oh, and about a thousand other things. Will you stay as far away from me as possible? Should I be put to death?
But what about the "serious" sins. Murder. Molestation. "Real" evil. I become "righteously" indignant whenever I hear about these things on the news - especially if it involves children. I don't think I could love and forgive some of these people I hear about. I know I am supposed to. But that "righteous" indignation keeps flaring up and getting in the way.
I know Christ has no meter when it comes to sin. We are all sinners. Period. I've got that. But what about us - among each other? I know we are not supposed to judge, either. But we are also not supposed to accept sin, right? So is there some list somewhere (besides the Ten Commandments; I do know that list), that shows where a sin falls on the "sin meter"? What's the difference between "sin" and "evil" as we see it every day? I thought a bad thought today - is that a sin or am I evil? Some guy drowned his kids - is that just a sin or is that evil? Can I and should I accept him as he is - a sinner? Or, can I not accept him and publicly decry him, as he is evil? (As, I think, most others in our population feel?)
How can you love yet not accept? Do you love the person, but denounce the actions? It's hard. There are certain things I want to teach my children about this, but how do I do it properly? "Ok, little Johnny, that person is doing something bad, and it's something you should never do, but you should still accept that person and not tell him that he is bad. That is something between him and God." Am I way off base here?
These are the rambling, sometimes disconnected thoughts that go through my mind...and sometimes out my mouth.
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2 comments:
Over 20 questions in one post...impressive and daunting!
Sin versus evil:
Sin in its most basic Hebrew form, chata, is "to miss the mark". This leads to the question of what is the mark? The mark is the standard set forth by God through the life of Jesus Christ.
Evil could be used as a noun, verb, or even adjective but is very similar to sin and could even be argued that it is the same as sin. In Deuteronomy 28:20, "The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of evil you have done in forsaking him" Evil is forsaking God, once again to miss the mark.
Therefore sin is evil by forsaking God whether it is that improper thought or the rape and murder of a child. They both miss the mark. Any sin keeps us from the Lord.
Isaiah 59:1-2 tell us this, "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear,but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
Each and every sin is serious in the eyes of the Lord no matter how we rank it.
If there is one sin then any other it would be the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ. By that one sin of unbelief it leads to eternal separation from God (here and now and in the future to come).
As for our response...it is very different depending on where the person is with the Lord. It also depends on what your motivation is for the person.
If the person sinning claims to be a follower of Christ, we are called to gently and with great love correct and help restore that person. Love is not acceptance but it is restoration toward wholeness. Scripture teaches a harsh lesson that if that person still refuses to change the sin we are to cut off the relationship for a season(I Cor. 5).
If the person is not a follower of Jesus we are still not called to accept the sin.
So many followers of Christ are shocked when they look at the behavior of non-Christians. Why? They really do not know any better nor is there a reason to act another way.
One of my favorite quotes is: "Do not blame the dark for being dark but rather the light for not shinning bright enough."
Often what this looks like is finding common ground and to be Jesus in their life. There really has to be a common standard when it comes to sin and what is "good or bad".
I'd love feedback from anyone. By no means am I an expert but I'm also on this faith journey along with you. Hope the answer was not too long and made sense!
Blessings!
Sins can now be measured with the Sinmeter directly from your blood: http://www.mikkoskopia.com/?p=8
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