Verses that inspire

Let your light shine.

Don't hide your light under a bushel basket. (Or under a smaller basket, either!)

Go into all the world . . .

Be a witness.

Love your neighbor.

Love God, love people.

All of these things swept through my mind recently as I attended a small, informal discussion group at a local breakfast eaterie. 

I was there to assist with setting some goals for our precincts in our county; we want to identify and elect conservative people at the local level, and then push from the grassroots to elect conservatives "up the chain." 

It was a bit like herding cats. No, make that herding kittens.

Little by little, we were able to steer our thoughts toward what would make our grassroots movement appealing to even more people. Recent data suggests that there are political groups who are becoming more conservative - to be explicit, people "of color" and gays are all swinging over to the conservative party's tent, because the platform includes many values that they believe in. I was so disheartened to hear someone discourage our reaching out to the homosexual community, and to say that the objection came from the Bible. This person's attitude was harsh, and unforgiving. They sounded cold, even spiteful when they spoke. My eyebrows went up! Yes, we believe in the Bible, and it says that the lifestyle is wrong. It's sinful. BUT. BUT. Didn't Jesus give us examples of how to "hate the sin, but love the sinner"? You may disagree with me, dear reader, but that is my interpretation. (I feel it's necessary to insert here, that I'm not singling out any one sin. I'm not "picking on" or harassing anybody for their lifestyle or choices. I'm just saying that my faith tells me that some things are sinful. This post could just as easily be about lust, or gluttony, or any other sin that besets humans!)

I say that because of several verses that inspire me:

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 1: 22-23, NASB)

Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. (Jude 1:22-23, MSG translation)

It's my belief that these verses tell us to extend mercy and compassion for people, and hate for the sin. God is holy and just; He can perfectly hate sin in holiness while also perfectly loving sinners and drawing them to repentance and forgiveness. As humans, we can't love perfectly -- and we can't hate perfectly -- when we "hate the sin" it will often come across as spitefulness, harshness, a totally un-loving attitude, instead of the compassion that we need to show to others who don't yet believe . . .  

Looks like we NEED the reminder to love the sinner and yet hate the sinful action. We need to read and re-read some verses that will inspire us.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:8-10)

God loved us before we loved Him. We should follow that example with those around us. 

Some folks get all upset trying to figure out how to love the sinner, but still keep ourselves "unstained by the world." (James 1:27)  It's pretty simple, really: we need to show people respect:

Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. (I Peter 2:17)

And we need to pray for them:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— (I Timothy 2:1)

And we need to lovingly tell them about Jesus - regardless of their apparent or hidden sins:

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15)

As long as we can show respect and love for a person, it is not wrong to prayerfully point out the sin in their lives. In fact, we are being unloving to people if we allow them to remain in sin and we don't tell them that there is mercy and forgiveness waiting for them at the cross. And it takes courage to approach another believer and respectfully point out that their attitude is not an example of Christ's teachings and compassion! But sometimes it is necessary!

Whether we are talking with believers or with unbelievers, we show love to people by treating them with dignity and respect, and by caring enough about them to share the truth of Christ. We hate sin by not condoning it. We also hate sin by not excusing it.  In both our love for the sinner and our hate for the sin, we must be careful to act and speak in a way that honors God. 

We must be gentle and reasonable:

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:5)

And we must show respect:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (I Peter 3:15)

See, it's not rocket science! It's compassion, gentleness, and respect. If we follow these guidelines, we won't be strident or harsh. We'll be that light of the world.

We'll love God and love people.