One week of school left! What a great time to write about homework!
I'm reading a book for my philosophy class called "Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches" by Ray Anderson, and I came across a point he makes saying and I quote,
"I love the sinner, but I hate the sin." I wonder if people who say that have any idea how destructive and downright ungracious that concept is! Whatever my sins and failures may be, that is who I am! You cannot love me without accepting the whole of me, painful and threatening it may be. And when you say that you hate my sin, I find it difficult to believe you really love me!
I had a hard time wrapping my mind around with what he's saying or implying. Then I felt a little steamed over the fact that he accused those who love people but hate the action. For instance, someone who is homosexual. I love the person, but I don't like what they're doing. Wasn't Jesus the same way? He loves us unconditionally, but he hates our actions that are sinful. I wonder if Anderson didn't think that one very through. Or maybe there's a whole new concept to loving people that I haven't figured out or discovered yet
. However, this thinking contradicts itself. Then again, how can you unintentionally hate someone? If hate is the same thing as murdering someone, can that be unintentional? Then that may legally be called homicide right? Is there a way to accept someone's sin but still dislike it? You can't accept sin. The way Anderson says, "Whatever my sins and failures may be, that is who I am!", it's like saying, hey I'm a sinner and a failure! Sure, everyone's a sinner, but I don't nesscarliy think everyone's a failure. Even though we have failed...are we failures? Are we losers? Maybe we fail to be considerate or kind to another person even just for a moment, and though it may not seem like a big deal to us, it is a big deal to God. I wonder if there's a clear answer to all this. Right now, I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with this. I'm just arguing with myself. Hopefully, I'll have a better understanding to this soon.
Comments (1)
‟I wonder if there's a clear answer to all this.”
The clear answer is that Ray Anderson is apparently a nincompoop. Reject him and his faulty logic.
He sounds like someone who must love his own sin. The one who sees how God hates sin, must also hate it. Hating the sin does not reject the sinner. A doctor loves his patient, but he surely hates the cancer that's destroying him.
Of course, this does not mean we make the sinner clean up his act before we can accept him. We love him as he is, but, like God, we want to see him restored to godly ‟health”.
Psalm 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Amos 5:15a Hate the evil, and love the good...