 Love & Hate
Years ago, I heard a speaker recount how he taught the players on a college football team for which he was the chaplain to answer the prompt “love God” with the reply to “hate sin” or vice versa. The point is that the two things are in complete contradiction. If one loves God then he must also hate sin. This is because God and sin are diametrically opposed. Sin is, by definition, anything that is not in line with God’s character, anything that is not done in faith (Romans 14:22-23), or anything that misses the mark of God’s holiness and righteousness (Romans 3:20-23). It is impossible to love God and love sin at the same time! Sinful Hatred However, while it would be accurate to say that love for God necessitates hatred for sin, it does not follow that hatred for some particular sin is always proof or evidence of love for God. Just this week I encountered some graffiti on a bridge in my hometown. It was the combination of a course expletive with a hateful slur against homosexuals. I, of course, believe that homosexuality, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the practice or relationship, is sinful. But, the person that wrote this horrible attack is not on the side of God. It seems obvious to me that this person is angry, but not over the offenses against the nature of God and His good intentions as the creator. Instead, this person is filled with personal animus against something that their own sinful flesh finds appalling. My point is simple: it is possible to hate sin in a sinful way. Sin demolishes trust and relationships. The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus (Titus 3:3) describing the kind of people we all are while still in sin. Here Paul says that we passed our days in malice and envy hated by others and hating one another. In sin, we are prone to find things to hate because hate is reigning in our stony hearts. There is no honor among thieves nor fellowship in the darkness. Partners in crime become enemies when their greed and evil desires entice them (James 1:14-15) to double cross one another. This reality means that we as believers cannot rely on the hope that the enemy of our enemy will be our friend. Just because another person or group agrees with us on an issue does not mean that their reason and motivation is coming from the right place. As Bob King shared with me earlier today, we must be seeking to, “Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.” Hate Sin! It is not enough to hate the sins that offend our cultural sensibilities or our family traditions or our personal preferences. As believers, seeking to rightly bear the image of God we must hate and detest all iniquity, transgression, and sin (Isaiah 59:12-13). Starting with our own wickedness and sin. If a heterosexual man is engaging in sexual immorality with his girlfriend, but detests the evil of homosexuality, he doesn’t love the righteous and holy standard of God’s law. If a man is cheating on his taxes, but hates the thief that stole his lawnmower he is not a lover of goodness. Rather, if we are to judge righteously we must heed the instruction of the Lord and remove the beam from our own eye so that we can judge correctly (Matthew 7:1-5). As God’s people, we must remember that judgment begins at the household of God (1 Peter 4:17-19). Remember as Christians we do have holy hatred for sin in our own lives and in the world but that hatred is superseded by an even greater motivation in our love for our Father, our affection for our Savior, and our adoration for the Holy Spirit.
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