This has been on my mind this morning. Certain people who call themselves Christians have a nasty habit of shunning a certain other group of people who identify themselves by their sin. Can I offer a change of perspective?
The Bible says we ALL have sinned. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I'm included in that statement. I have sinned. I know that the sins I could tell you about in my life are places where the enemy of my soul has lied to me or caused people to wound me. Now if that is true in my life, I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume it is true in others. If we see a person who is displaying an obvious sin and we choose to attack them over it, or turn our noses up at them, or boycott their business.... What are we accomplishing? If you see a person with a gaping wound in their skin, do you go rub salt in it?
Sin is evidence that the enemy is attacking us. So if we see someone's sin and we join in the attacking, whose side are we on?? I'm so sick of them old excuse "we have to tell them the truth." Sorry, no you don't. It's not your job. Our job is to lead people into an encounter with the ONE who can save them and clean them up.
When you came to Jesus, were you perfect? Had you cleaned up your entire life so that you no longer had any sin on you? Don't think so. You've been a Christian for 40 years? Are you perfect yet? Doubt it. I know that as I've walked through the process, the big obvious sins weren't the first things He dealt with. Jesus has been faithfully working in my heart to heal the wounded places and expose and evict the lies I have believed. As He did that, the way I acted gradually changed. I didn't have to do the work myself, He did it. Jesus changed my heart as He healed it.
If you consider yourself a follower of Christ, I beg you to consider how you think about the people you label as "sinners." Can you see anything beyond their sin? Does their sin mean they are a bad person? Or can you realize that sin is our enemy and that is a fellow human being that is under attack and needs your love and compassion? It makes no difference what their sin is that you think you are seeing. You have no idea what they've been through that has led them to this place. Love covers all types of sins. Can you see the person through the mud?
I think specifically of Ellen. Christians love to hate her. That pisses me off! Ellen is a wonderful human being! She has devoted her life to making people laugh and giving generously to those in need. Can we say the same thing about ourselves? Sounds like her actions are more Christian than a lot of church people I know. She has sin in her life just like the rest of us and it doesn't matter which kind. No one sin is too big, no one sin matters more than others. Ellen should be encouraged for all the good that she does, and for the amazing person that she is. She is created in the image of God, just like you and I. All the pushback and hatred that she experiences from church people is only serving to push her further from God. If you truly care about her eternal soul, you will not be a part of the attack on her, but instead, you will show her love as Jesus would do. Pointing out sin and scorning the sinner will never lead them to Jesus. Remember, it is His kindness that leads us to repentance.
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