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Love the sinner...hate the sin.

   On the way to Dallas, I had an opportunity to talk to a dear friend about this very subject: love the sinner; hate the sin. And he said something that has always rang true with me, "I despise that statement." I concur.
   I have searched for a scripture that gives us those exact words in that exact order...I can't find it. In Romans 12:9 it says, "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." But where in that scripture does it say anything about it being about a person, or someone else's situation.
   All my life I have heard this statement, and never has it ever made me feel at peace. Because usually when it is spoken it is uttered out of judgement. There is no way that we can utter that statement without a modicum of judgement. Sure, we may say we aren't judging people, but we are. And we all know how I feel about judgment.
   What I find most interesting and sad, is the when I do hear this it usually comes out of the mouth of someone who has sin in their life (of some sort) but has placated their sin with some sort of personal justification. How hypocritical...haven't all sinned and come short of the glory of God? I read a thread on fb tonight, that really bothered me...there was this instance of standing up for what is wrong in someone's life and speaking out about it. A response to this was: God hasn't looked on our sin since Jesus died on the cross. What the what?
    Really now? So you are saying that when we sin (at all) God over looks it (only if we are Christians--this was a precursor) knowing His Son died for them? That's laughable. God sees every moment as if it is now. He sees us as sinners sinning and redeemed...at the same time! That's the beauty of grace.
    St. Francis said, "Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." So the idea of living one's life according to what they think is right, often missing the mark, and then speaking out against someone else's sin, is justifiable? No. Not at all. If you so desire to love the sinner and hate the sin...then love yourself while hating your own failures. Don't openly tell someone what they are doing is wrong. How damaging you really are. If we actively live our lives according to the Standard which is Christ, then people will know you and ask you about your faith knowing you are set apart...but don't ever actively go out of your way to condemn someone's sin. You will only bring God's judgement on yourself.
    The greatest commandment: Love God. The second: love others. Neither of those statements, especially the second, remotely talks about hating someone's sin. Should we hate sin? Yes! We should! But our mantra shouldn't be: I love you...but. It should just be: I love you. End of story.
    Let's try this: let us not be "Christ followers" let us be "Christians." Let us be the reason people want to seek the Truth, and I guarantee it has nothing to do with our words.

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