Does Condemning Wickedness Equate to Hate?

Transcription

1 Does Condemning Wickedness Equate to Hate? I. Introduction. a. Recent Federal Judge s ruling that Alabama s ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. i. Sparked a lot of controversy ii. This is not going to be a lesson regarding what the Bible has to say about homosexuality. b. What I want to talk about is the range of reactions of people to subjects like this. i. I read the Facebook comments to the news article. ii. Many commented on the travesty of the news and mentioned what the Bible has to say. 1. Some made their point simply and calmly. 2. Others made the point quite crudely. iii. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were many who voiced their support for their ruling. 1. And, in the process, they bashed the simple-minded people who dared to express their belief that God condemns homosexuality. 2. The most common theme of their comments was that Christians are supposed to love; why is everyone expressing so much hate? c. That led me to the subject that I want to talk about this morning. i. I want to ask a simple question. ii. Does condemning wickedness equate to hate? iii. Pay attention because my answer could surprise you. II. The Bible does teach we should love one another. a. Romans 13:8-10, Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. i. When it comes to how we treat people, love is it. 1. We have one responsibility to others: love them!

2 ii. Consider the summary in verse 10: 1. Love does no harm to a neighbor. 2. Love is the fulfillment of the law. iii. If you love, you are fulfilling the law of God. iv. Therefore, if we don t love, we re disobeying God. b. 1 John 4:7-11, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us, we also ought to love one another. i. Why should we love? 1. Because God first loved us. 2. He showed us what love is. He showed us who He is, for God is described as love. ii. While John s subject is for Christians to love other Christians (and we need to heed his admonition), please notice that God s love was not limited. 1. God loved the world and showed it through the gift of His Son. c. Matthew 5:43-48, You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collector s do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. i. Love your enemy; not hate. ii. Why? 1. Because you re different. 2. Because that s what God does. d. Luke 10:25-29, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And He said to him, You have answered rightly; do this and you will live. But he wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? i. The answer is the parable of the Good Samaritan. ii. Who should we love? Whoever needs us.

3 iii. Turn it around: Who should we not love? e. Review. i. Love does no harm; it fulfills the law of God. ii. We ought to love each other because God first loved us. iii. A Christian s love is different in that we even love our enemies. iv. Whom am I to love? My neighbor. Who s my neighbor? The world. III. Yet, the Bible also commands us to correct our brother and confront wickedness. a. We are commanded as Christians to speak the truth. i. 2 Timothy 4:2, Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ii. As Paul did, we must declare the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27 iii. We are not supposed to sit idly by and be silent. b. And notice, the command is not limited just to not participating in sin. i. Many people express this sentiment: 1. If you don t like it, then don t do it. 2. Otherwise, be quiet. You don t have the right to tell me I can t do it. ii. That sounds all well and good. iii. But what about Ephesians 5: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 2. Tells us not to participate. 3. But also tells us to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. a. In other words, help others see things for what they are: SIN. c. So for all the people who would rather me just keep my mouth shut, please consider these commands: i. 2 Timothy 2:25, correcting those who are in opposition. ii. 2 Timothy 4:2, convince, rebuke, exhort. iii. Galatians 6:1, restore such a one. iv. James 5:19, turn him back. v. Jude 23, others save with fear. vi. 1 Timothy 5:20, those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all. d. The truth is that we show our love for man when we seek to turn men from their sins. i. As Solomon said in Proverbs 27:5, Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. ii. I would rather someone openly rebuke me than hide their love for me. iii. Why? Which one is more valuable?

4 IV. The Bible also demands we speak the truth in love. a. Two facts. i. We are supposed to love. ii. But we are supposed to speak the truth (which includes bringing sin to light). b. While those two things should go together, they don t always. i. Can we love but not speak the truth? 1. Theoretically, yes. 2. It really depends on your definition of love. 3. But can I have good, warm feelings for someone but not tell them what they need to hear? Yes. ii. Can we speak the truth but not love? 1. Most definitely. 2. I can be factually right yet my motive is far from love. 3. Can that happen to us? We know we re right and we spout off without really a thought or a concern to who we re talking to or who s listening. c. Speaking the truth in love. i. Ephesians 4:11-16, And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. ii. Notice first the situation in verse 14 which Paul describes: 1. Every wind of doctrine. There s a lot of false doctrines. 2. But notice the other descriptions: a. Trickery of men. b. Cunning craftiness. c. Deceitful plotting. 3. My point is that Paul describes a situation in which men are going to be deceptive about Christianity. a. But that doesn t give us the right to speak the truth without love. b. Vs. 15, speaking the truth in love.

5 d. Over and over, God tells us to watch our attitude when we speak the truth and correct others: i. Matthew 7:5, First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother s eye. ii. Galatians 6:1, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. iii. 2 Timothy 2:25, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth. e. Having the truth does not give us the right to be hateful. i. I sometimes cringe at the way people speak the truth (in Facebook comments or in writings or in person). ii. Have you ever thought that speaking the truth without love could do more damage than not speaking the truth at all? V. Conclusion. a. Does condemning wickedness equate to hate? i. It can if we do it in the wrong manner and with the wrong spirit. ii. It doesn t if it s done correctly and with the right attitude. b. What do we need to do? i. Speak the truth. Never back down. ii. But speak the truth in love. Check your motives and watch how you come across. 1. How you say it does matter as much as what you say. 2. You could make the case that it matters even more.