“Love the sinner, hate the sin? How about: Love the sinner, hate your own sin! I don’t have time to hate your sin. There are too many of you! Hating my sin is a full-time job. How about you hate your sin, I’ll hate my sin and let’s just love each other!” — Mark Lowry
I was talking to a guy the other night at The Meeting Place and we were sharing the general struggle that we all have about pointing out the splinters in other’s eyes while ignoring the 2×4’s in our own. I dare say that most of us deal with this because it is so easy to look at someone else’s issues [all while knowing the the back of our mind that we definitely struggle with the same thing or other issues but push them aside and then come up with a bunch of justifications why we need to point out their issues. Know what I mean? I do it. Still. It’s easy to deal with someone else’s sin rather than address my own. I mean it’s so obvious, right? If I just point it out, then they will fix it, and they will be a better person. It sounds silly saying it like that, but that’s what I do. It’s something we all do, to some extent.
We like our high horses tho. Just tonight I read of someone talking of boycotting Starbucks or Target because they support Planned Parenthood. I hate to break it to you, but if you are a taxpayer in the USA, you support Planned Parenthood. I said, “Honestly though… the list of companies who support Planned Parenthood and other such organizations that disagree with your Christianity is so extensive, it would be difficult to shop or do any sort of commerce. Personally, I do support my local Starbucks – it provides jobs, and I have a great rapport with the baristas who work there. I share stories about my life, photography, and church, and I get the opportunity to give them a big thanksgiving blessing every year when they have to work on that day. It’s so fun! Sometimes it is easy to boycott a company (and I have done this in the past) and forget that real people — people in our local community — are affected. So, what about just being a testimony of love and Christ to them as we shop there — the encouraging smile, the word of hope, the faith in action.
Someone responded with this: “I have to agree! Becoming involved in individual lives so that our “rubbing shoulders” in real-life relationships gives them an opportunity to witness the hope that is within us, and we get the chance to give the reason for it, changes hearts, which then changes culture. Ravi Zacharias speaks of this as being much more effective than pushing back and forth with child-like boycotts, with each side remaining entrenched in their own little world without any opportunity for genuine redemption and change.”
And that brings me to Mark Lowry’s thoughts. The truth is that I don’t have time to worry about the sin in other people’s lives. There are enough issues in my own little head to deal with. So let’s just work on our own stuff, and focus on showing kindness and generosity to each other. Let’s share hope and words of life. Love God and love others — the two big commandment worth pursuing. Allow your kind actions to show others what true Christianity is, and then let the Holy Spirit to draw them and move their hearts to change and redemption.