To Not Warn Is To Hate

 

Image: Unsplash

Many people in our society today think that it is loving to simply affirm the sinner in a dangerous way of life. This is because our word today defines love as affirmation. But there is nothing more dangerous than affirming someone in a dangerous behaviour. 

I addressed this in a sermon recently, and here is a short excerpt from that sermon.

We need more and more Christians to boldly love as Christ would have us love. What I did not say in this sermon, because time did not permit, is that very first time we are commanded to love our neighbours in the Scriptures, it is in the context of being honest with them.

Look what Moses wrote,

Leviticus 19:17-18, “17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

In discussion about what love is many people have completely forgotten how the Bible itself defines it. To not hate your brother in your heart is to seek to reason frankly with them, so that you do not incur sin because of him. To not hate your neighbour in your heart is to avoid seeking to avenge yourself on him, and instead seeking to convince them of their error as much as you can.

Some of the people considered the most hateful in our society today, because they talk so much about sin and the foolishness of our society, are doing far more to love their neighbours than the people who are simply affirming their neighbours in a destructive way of life. Remember this.