I feel like we have come to a crossroads in our nation’s Christian heritage.
If the events of the past few weeks have taught me anything is that our culture is very accepting of Jesus.
Provided the message of his life, death and resurrection is reduced to little more then ‘just love me, leave me alone and let me do whatever I want.’
Anyone who stands up for biblical truth especially in this culture of political correctness knows full well that the critics will attack you fast and furious.
Then of course you will have Christian critics who will jump at you for claiming you are not being ‘loving’ ‘accepting’ ‘not being Christlike’ in other words ‘not being nice’
But we know full well what being ‘loving’ means
Now don’t get me wrong there are Christians out there that are all those things the activists claim we are ‘unloving’ ‘rude’ ‘mean’ ‘unchristlike’ but they are not people that are proclaiming truth in the public squares.
In this culture we know that being loving ‘like Jesus’ means to just be nice, approve everything and not offend anyone.
But you see love and truth are not mutually exclusive, both are vitally important and both must be pursued simultaneously. The most loving thing we can do is share truth because “it’s the truth that will set you free” (John Chapter 8 Verse 32), challenge lies, deception and above all challenge sin that is very offensive to this culture.
Jesus was never quiet on the issue of sin.
Take the woman caught in adultery
In the 8th chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus was teaching at the temple when the teachers of religious law and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
According to the mosaic law of the day they were to stone her because she had been caught in adultery, Jesus said “alright but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John Chapter 8 Verse 7).
Slowly the crowd started to disperse because they realised they were not without sin until it was just Jesus and the woman.
Jesus asked “where are your accusers? Didn’t one of them condemn you?” (John Chapter 8 Verse 10)
The woman said “No, Lord” (John Chapter 8 Verse 11).
Jesus’s responses was very profound he does not condemn us in our sin but he does not leave us there either he says “Go and sin no more.”
He did not say “I don’t either now try not to sin” he says “Go and sin no more”.
There is an expectation that when are in Christ we turn away from whatever is causing us to sin.
He is also very confronting on the issue of sin.
He said in Matthew Chapter 12 Verse 34 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?”
He then says “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!” (Matthew Chapter 12 Verse 39)
He called people ‘blind guides’ in Matthew Chapter 15 Verse 14, he even called one of his own disciples Satan who is a stumbling block to him (Matthew Chapter 16 Verse 23).
Then of course he gives this warning to us in Matthew Chapter 18 Verse 6 “If anyone causes those who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
It is crystal clear how Jesus feels about people not confronting the issue of sin, sin is a cancer that separates us from God.
For God to be good he has to punish sin and he made a way through Jesus on the cross but we must never reduce that sacrifice to be certain of nothing approving of everything, in other words disguising approval of sin and calling it love. Silence is approval.
Afterword
The apostle Paul could be very forceful when it came to correcting others.
But I love the advice he gives Timothy.
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” 1 Timothy Chapter 2 Verses 24-26
Be kind gentle, loving and accepting but never about the issue of sin, how else will people escape the trap of the devil?
Ben Kruzins is the Campus Pastor of The Hub Baptist Church in Ocean Shores on the North Coast of New South Wales. He is also a Journalism graduate who has written articles in The Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald.
