Why do Christians always invoke the phrase "love the sinner, hate the sin" mantra?

Question

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, especially when it comes to homosexuality.

It is similar to saying, "I love you but I hate your family, your house, your car, your clothes, your pets, the way you look, the way you smell, the way you click your teeth when you eat, etc.... but I love YOU so much."

I hate to quote a Black Eyed Peas song, but where is the love in that? It may be said with good intentions but it is the biggest load of crap ever. It is said as a way for some Christians to hide and justify their judgmental behavior at the same time.

I guess what I mean is that only God himself could say something like this and be taken seriously. Any of us who say it sound like judgmental tools.

WOW, I am an "enemy of Jesus" for simply asking a reasonable question. Thanks for the kind words dude.

LOL, that guy who called me an enemy's name is "Jesus Loves Us" hilarious irony

Viento, thanks for the long response, but believing the Bible is infallible is only a belief of fundamentalist Christians, not all, or even the majority of Christians. Look it up if you don't believe me. So the Bible verse about people being gay means nothing to me. It also says that you should bury eating utensils that have touched unclean food. Do you do that?

Answer 1

I'm in total agreement. First off is it just a lie. We judge your behavior but not you? What does that even mean?

Answer 2

I don't know if you really want to know this answer to your question or if you are just venting. If you are just venting, that's OK. but I will presume that you would like an answer for the time being.

I am far from perfect and have done and I am sure my eight year old daughter can tell you still do lots of things that I should not. I say that I want to live righteously but constantly fall short...often way short. I still wish for my family to love me and support me when I am doing things that are not right.

I don't however want my friends, my husband, my parents, and so forth to sugar coat it and act like every thing I do is right when they know that it is wrong. Because they love me they tend to point out a lot of my shortcomings. They just want me to be the best I can be. They want me to enjoy life and all it has to offer with out the guilt that comes with sin.

I realize that when it comes to Christians saying that they love the person living a homosexual life style but they do not like the life style that they are living it offends those who are living it. I find a lot of the comments made on this website regarding Christians to be offensive as well.

It is just a matter of what you believe. As a Christian one of the beliefs is that the Holy Bible is the written word of God and that it is infallible. The Holy Bible is clear on the issue of homosexuality. It is also clear on a myriad of other things that it condemns as sinful. If this is not your belief system than no worries. You are fine living just the way you are.

Just as you have your beliefs so do others. The way I see it the people on this section of Yahoo!Answers have very little tolerance for one another no matter what there beliefs.

So, to love the sinner is to really love them and accept that they are who they are and they are where they are in their life. You don't have to agree that all they do is right but you support them with love, comfort and encouragement when they need it. I hope this clears things up for you a bit. If not just keep on trying to figure it out.

Answer 3

If you start doing things that your parents don't like, they'll most likely continue to love you. That doesn't mean that they like what you're doing, and it certainly doesn't mean that they've stopped loving you (in cases of a normal parent-child relationship). It seems empty, but sometimes it's the best we can do. Sorry. It's our way of not condoning something that we believe is immoral while at the same time not turning away that person. In its pure form, it should mean that we treat you very well, but are not fond of what you are doing and try to tell you as much, maybe even help you to stop. I think that it's a good idea, but often poorly implemented.

Answer 4

As a teen aged young person I used drugs and alcohol heavily. I have no doubt about two things during that period of my life: 1. My mother hated, with every ounce of her being, that I did drugs and got drunk. 2. My mother loved me with every ounce of her being. According to your words, she was ridiculous, just being judgmental and trying to hide that and justify it at the same time. Its good for me that she loved this sinner but hated my sins.

Answer 5

Jesus got here to keep sinners, no longer the righteous. it extremely is interior the Bible. Why? because of the fact He so enjoyed the worldwide . . . (John 3:sixteen). there are a number of places interior the Bible that for sure coach that God hates sin. you may desire to apply discernment and study between the strains a sprint.

Answer 6

Homosexulity is, according to the bible, a sin. Also, according to the bible, we are supposed to hate sin. Therefore, we are supposed to hate homosexuality. It's not ridiculous. It's logic.

The reason you CAN love people, but hate their sins, is that the sins a person commits do not define that person. Their sins are not part of who they are. They are separate from their sins. (This is also a biblical idea.) You seem to think "homosexual" is who they are, and not just a thing they do, and therein lies your problem. Homosexual is not who they are, it's simply a thing they do. So, we love who they are, (a creation of God), but we hate the things they do (sins).

If it makes you feel any better, we also hate our own sins, but we love ourselves for who we are: children of God who are forgiven of their sins through Jesus!

One question for you: if homosexuality is who a person is, than how is it that so many thousands of homosexuals have come out of that lifestyle, and repented, and never returned to that sin? Logically, a person cannot cease being who they are. They can only cease doing what they're doing. Be careful not to define people by what they do.


To squit AM - practice what you preach, dude.

Answer 7

Sorry, but at least "love the sinner and hate the sin" is much better than "stone the sinner, and turn anyone else to pillars of salt". The basis of this statement should be taken as an affirmation of tolerance even though they don't agree with the act.

Answer 8

Well, because if they hated the sinner all the churches would be empty because most people who attend churches are weekend warriors. Being all high and mighty for one day then are right back at it come Monday morning.

Good question!

Answer 9

Just imagine this....I am a full believer in God ...im a christian..... God loves you .... the same amount that he loves me...i believe in him but you obviously don't.... just because i believe in him doesn't make me perfect we all sin everyday but God loves us no matter what and he always will ..... he hates the things that we do but loves us ... like if you had a child that was addicted to drugs you would hate what they do..... but would you hate them...of course not....

Answer 10

Flippant little excuse to be judgmental. They don't mean it. It's like saying have a nice day and not meaning it from the heart.If they really loved them they wouldn't say cute non-meaning little catch phrases. Words are cheap.

Unconditional love surpasses even the imagined sins.

Answer 11

If you say "love the sinner, hate the sin" , you are not saying ""I love you but I hate your family, your house, your car, your clothes, your pets, the way you look, the way you smell, the way you click your teeth when you eat, etc.... but I love YOU so much.", because those things like the family is not the sin,......... the things you do, that do not please God, are sins.

I hope you inderstand.

May God reveal the real meaning to you, if u do not understand it. God be with you. I really mean it.