Day 7 of False Choices: You must choose to embrace sin or to be a “hater.”

““I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.””

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We began our journey of “10 Days of False Choices” with a discussion of the fact that we sometimes find a group co-opting the language so as to represent the behavior they want in a good light and behavior they do not want in a bad light.

Today’s false choice is a little different in that—either way you go—you could feel that you were doing something bad. But, the fact is, there is a scenario in which we can and should acknowledge sin without being a “hater” of the sinner.

A few years ago the then President of the United States said that the Christian approach of “hating the sin, but loving the sinner” was not “helpful.” If that were true—which it is not—what are we left to do? Well, in his estimation, we should love, accept, and even encourage the sin, or we will be represented as (necessarily) being “haters” of the people doing those things.

Let’s take a moment to look at two passages of instruction from the Bible. The first one is where Paul is addressing what should be done to a person who is openly sinning within the church.

“I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In this second passage—also coming from Paul—we see the instruction to lovingly restore someone who was trying to recover from their fall into sin.

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT

Hating the sin, yet loving the sinner, is not only possible, but is the way we must operate. Saying that it should be any other way would be comparable to saying that to be loving to a person with cancer, you must love the cancer! Remember:

“…and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭15b‬ ‭AMP‬‬

We certainly must not love that which we know can lead to death!

In our opening scripture we see that the Lord exhorts the church at Ephesus to be renewed in their love for the Lord and their love for each other. At the same time, He commends them for hating the works of the Nicolaitans in the same way that He hates their works.

We also see that when Jesus is addressing the church at Thyatira He commends them for their love, good works, and service, but reprimands them for allowing the sinful behavior—and the teaching of the same—by “Jezebel.”

““I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Do not allow the world—or even those within the church—to intimidate you into remaining silent about those things that go against God‘s law to avoid being labeled as a “hater.” We hate sin, but we love people. That is the truth, no matter who may say otherwise.

Today we lay to rest the false choice between embracing sin or being a “hater.”

#10daysoffalsechoices