Love the sinner, hate the sin. Right?

Question

That's what I say.

Schooney, What (Who) are you "ashamed" of?

Answer 1

That sounds about right. Jesus wanted the disciples to understand they needed to care for the needs of the people above all else. If we truly believe that He is sent by God, then we should be following His example.

Answer 2

"Love the sinner, hate the sin." First and foremost, that may be what you and many others say, but how many people who say that actually practice it? A lot of people seem perfectly willing to hate the sinner whether it's an ex-con trying to get his life back in gear after time in prison, an openly gay person, or a woman walking out of a planned parenthood clinic.

The real question is who gets to define the concept, sin? Many white Americans abhor slavery as an abomination now; but many of their great-great-grandparents may have thought helping slaves escape was a sin. Likewise, most Americans think incest is a horrible sin, but the ancient Egyptians would have thought it the most wretched evil if the Pharoahs had NOT married their sisters. So, who gets to define what is a sin in any particular culture at any given time?

You may argue that sin is an unchanging concept well-defined by this holy scripture or that. But, we know that, historically, no scripture has ever escaped the heavy handed revisionism of rulers who wish to exercise greater control of their subjects by placing their dictates in the "mouth of god." Those who have the power frequently rewrite holy books in order to instill fear and submission into their subjects. There are many passages in the bible, for example, that bear little resemblence to their original form, much less to the form they may have had as oral traditions.

Sin has to be seen for what it is: an arbitrary cultural concept used primarily for exercising command and control over a primitive population. Irrespective of the edict to "love the sinner, hate the sin," anyone labelled a sinner in most traditional cultures is a target for as much abuse as the members of the community care to dump.

Answer 3

Jesus loved the sinners, that's for certain. He says in Matthew 9:12:
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

He came for the sinners. Now, sin and impurity aren't acceptable in the Kingdom of God, so naturally one must abhor (and in case of the sinner, repent of) the sin in order to be worthy of the Kingdom. He came to make it so that the sinners could get there, and that means that he loves the sinners (everybody). We should too.

Answer 4

Sounds good in theory, but in practice hating the sinner seems just as acceptable. The fact of the matter is, most Christians do not love gay people, people of other faiths, or atheist. Scientist get a bad rap from the Christians as well.

How do you "love" people you are so violently opposed to?

Answer 5

You should give love to the sinner but not to follow him.You hate the sin inorder to fullfill the teachings of God and to avoid satan or evil spirit.
jtm

Answer 6

You got it! Not always easy, in the case of some sins that may detest us more than others, but most definitely what we as loving Christians strive for.

God Bless.

Answer 7

That's right, I hate the sin...and the sinner, and the sinless.

Answer 8

I hate that expression.

I'm a Christian - but my experience is most people who use that expression are excusing some form of religious bigotry or piety.

Answer 9

i thought "loving" someone your not married to is a sin lol

Answer 10

Right.