Hate the Sin & Love the Sinner?

 

 

Once upon a time I made it a point to notice bumper stickers. There were a few that I found truly clever, or at least, entertaining. 

     I do whatever the little voices tell me to 

    My child is an honor student; my governor is a moron 

    Buckle up: it makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car 

 It was when people started to declare their entire theology in a one-sentence decal that I gave up on them. I started to see things like: 

    Do you follow Jesus this closely? 

    God needs salt shakers and light bulbs 

    God answers knee-mail 

    It’s not a religion --- it’s a relationship 

 

The one that put me over the edge, though, was this: 

    Hate the Sin, But Love the Sinner. 

 Just let that sink in a minute. Hate the Sin, But Love the Sinner. There are behaviors of which I disapprove. There are certain actions that I can even say I hate. But fortunately, I am not the sin police. I have enough trouble dealing with my own transgressions and that takes up most of my time. 

But, the problem I have is not hating the sin, it is having “love the sinner” qualified. If I am to love as Jesus directs me to love in multitudes of locations in the New Testament, I don’t get to qualify that. I am not instructed to love people except when they exhibit certain behaviors. Jesus doesn’t tell me to love everybody unless they fail some litmus test. Jesus doesn’t tell me to love people as long as they believe what I believe, act as I act and speak as I speak. 

Jesus says “Love one another as I have loved you.” God’s love as expressed in Jesus Christ is unconditional love. It is love without exception. It is love without qualification. God loves all that God has made with no provisos. 

Don’t try to tell me that God loves all who repent of their sin. Jesus sacrificed for us long before any of us expressed any kind of faith. “God so loved THE WORLD,” not so loved the part of the world that neatly fit into a certain Protestant Scheme.  If we are sitting in church and are asked to move over so that another person can sit down, do we say, “Would you fill out this checklist first?” 

If a person follows her/his own bumper sticker directive, the “Hate” fades away so that only “Love” remains. The love of a disciple -- Christ-like love as for a sibling or other family member – comes freely, completely, and with blinders on. All we can see is love. We look past the disappointments. We pass over the failures. We remember that we ourselves have nailed Jesus to the cross by our own sinfulness. If Christ can love us without qualification, how can we who call ourselves by His Holy Name possibly do less? 

The peace of the Lord be with you.