For God proved his love for (each one of us) that he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift… John 3:16

For the Christian walking in God’s grace, our posture is always love. Jesus, Himself, never did a thing outside of love. Even when He rebuked the Pharisees, He did not mock them. Nor did He rant. Too many of His followers, however, prefer loud to loving; yelling to relating. It is much easier. And there are plenty of Christian speakers out there who cater to the ‘Christian’ thirst for put-downs and mockery that is so popular in the Kingdom of this world.

The Bible doesn’t leave the Love matter up to personal choice: I’ve never heard a Christian get up and propose that we behave unlovingly—at least not blatantly. I have heard many redefine love so that it includes unkindness, mockery, verbal slamming, and the list goes on. So I’m wondering: Are we who comprise the local churches so blind to the implications of our love theology that we can snooker ourselves into believing that we are loving when we’re really hating?

Our theology says that we each of us has sinned. We embrace the concept of the total fallenness of humanity, but do we conveniently forget that fallenness does not display itself the same way in everyone? Our theology says that all sins are the same; to commit one is to commit them all; and the penalty for any sin is death. 

In Biblical love there is no wiggle room. Love does not allow us to decide who we will let off and who we will judge any more than it allows us to decide who we will love and who we will hate; who we will be in awe of and who we will mock.

If the love of God is not for people we fully disagree with; the person on the cover of all the supermarket tabloids, the politician who’s agenda is godless, the atheist… then it is for no one. The very essence of the Gospel is that no one is good enough to secure God’s love. And “no one” includes you and me and all those people we think we’re better than… why pretend that our hatred is ‘righteous indignation’ and as such, it’s acceptable?  

God’s grace is not a bunch of theological platitudes, but it is God’s hand finding each one of us in the miry pit. The hand that becomes coated with grime to reach down into the sewer of sin and grab us sets us on a solid rock and establishes us in righteous ways.

So, theology aside, why do many (most?) Christians consider some sins worse than others? While many would correctly reason that we can’t expect lost people to act like they are saved, why do we expect them to, anyway? Paul certainly was explicit about this. He required some standards within the group of people who claimed to be Christians, but he calls it futile to expect Christian behavior from non-Christians.

Jesus sent us out to preach the Good News, baptize and teach those who believe. He didn’t list straightening out the behavior of a lost world. Contrary to many well-intended Christians’ behavior, condemning people at every turn is an ineffective evangelism strategy. Listening and loving works better.

If we believe the Bible, we have no option but to love sinners. If we have any like-mindedness with 1 Corinthians 13, then we have to stop defining love in ways that allow us to behave and speak in hatefully. There are among today’s ‘great sinners’ future children of God through repentance and faith in Jesus. No amount of sin, no amount of lobbying for sin is going to satisfy their real need. Joy comes from the One who made us to find joy in Himself.

For God so loved sinners. That means you and me.