Hate the Sin. Love the Sinner.

Hate the sin, love the sinner is totally Biblical. It’s important for people to know that we don’t approve of their sinful lifestyles before we can love them.

We all remember the story of the Prodigal Son. The son takes his inheritance, spends it all on hookers and partying, and then decides to come home. The father sees his son coming home from a long way off and before he runs to him, he yells “I just want you to know that I hate the act of using your inheritance on hookers and partying. I need you to know I love you but I don’t support that lifestyle.”

There’s also the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep. One of the shepherd's 100 sheep gets separated from the herd and lost. The shepherd must make an example of that sheep so the other 99 don’t get the wrong idea. He sits them all down and tells them how much he hates the act of getting lost and that if they see that sheep again, they can’t just welcome him back into the herd because he’s a lost sheep now and he might think they approve of him running away. In fact, if they see any sheep getting separated from the herd, they need to separate themselves further so that sheep will know that what he's doing is wrong. Then the shepherd stands on a hill and shouts really loudly so the lost sheep can hear him. “Before I find you, you need to know that I hate the act of getting lost. I don’t hate you, but I hate what you did.”

Obviously, I am being facitious. That is not how those stories go, but if you listen to people teaching hate the sin, love the sinner you wouldn't know it.

Hate the sin, love the sinner is actually a really ugly statement. While a religious argument can be made for it, it is not Biblical. Mahatma Gandhi actually said it, not Jesus. While it sounds virtuous, people say it because they don’t want their love for people to be misconstrued as approval of sin. Which is actually a misplaced fear that does more harm than good.

I'm not sure when we as Christians decided that we can tell people that we hate what they are doing but still love them. What people do is a part of who they are. When you say you hate something someone is doing, you are literally saying that you hate a part of them. We tell people "come just as you are" but make sure to express that we don't approve of how they are. This absolutely does not represent the heart of God.

Jesus made it clear over and over and over that the heart of The Father is towards people, not changing their behavior. He was never worried about "condoning" sin by loving people. In fact, when the religious leaders questioned Him about welcoming sinners and eating with them, He responded with the story of The Lost Sheep. We see all this in Luke 15:1-7. When a sheep gets lost, the shepheard leaves his 99 sheep and searches high and low to find his one lost sheep. When he finds it, he puts the sheep on his shoulders and carries it back to town. When he returns with his treasured lost sheep, the shepherd invites all his neighbors and friends to celebrate with him that the sheep is found. Jesus specifies at the end "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

Jesus continues this theme in Luke 15:11-31 with the story of the Lost Son. This story is often taught to encourage sinners to return home. But if you actually read it, it is as much about the father as it is the son. We all know the story. The son takes his inheritance, wastes it all away, and when he has no other options he decides to return home. He has shamed himself and his father and is returning expecting to be shunned. He is prepared to live as a servant in his father's home and not a son. What is amazing to me, is that his father never even acknowledges the sin his son has commited. There is no shame or punishment. The father runs to his son, embraces him, kisses him, puts a robe on him, a ring on his finger, and welcomes him back as an honored guest. The father then goes and puts together a feast celebrating the return of his son. The son does not deserve this treatment at all. He was selfish and ruined his father and his family's name, yet his father is nothing but loving and good to him. The father is not worried that by welcoming his son home, the son (or the neighbors) will think his father approves of his sin. The father simply loves.

So why are we so afraid that loving people will somehow harm them or keep them from God or repenting of their sin? Jesus never loved people by saying what He was against. He loved them, he healed them, he ministered to them and THEN he said “go and sin no more”. Jesus actually never stood against anything except for the religious. We do not have to stand on a soapbox of what we are against to reach the world. We just need to be ourselves, stay connected to God in our own personal relationship, and follow His lead as we love everyone we come in contact with.

God is love. When we are connected to Him, His love flows through us. So when we love others, they are literally encountering God. No one encounters God and remains unchanged. It is not our job to change people. It is our job to be Jesus' hands and feet bringing love, comfort, and restoration to a hurting world.

Yes, this is a simplification of the vastness of God, relationship with Him, and reaching the lost. This post was not written to be an end-all be-all argument. It is simply a launching point in our interactions with others. Love first, wanting nothing in return, then follow God's leading.

Happy growing!

Sarah Dawn