Loving the Sinner

Don Fischer reflects on the responsibility we Christians have to love the sinner

We have to be persons who are there for giving life to others. For giving means we are not holding back the gift of life, the gift of the Spirit. We are there for the purpose for giving the Spirit to everyone. That doesn’t mean we are there approving everyone for where they are. It just means that we are giving others life. We want to do something for them that brings them into life. We are not interested in punishing others. We are not interested in condemning or criticizing others. We may use harsh words to point out something they are doing wrong, and that may not be easy for them to receive. But it’s our disposition toward them that is so crucial. If judgment toward our brothers and sisters is condemnation, hatred, loathing or disgust—that isn’t Spirit. That is something else. That is the opposite of what Christ came to do. When he said, "You will free people when you are there for giving life," that is the mightiest work of God. God’s mighty act is to love every single human being exactly as they are, in this moment, with the hope and the desire that they move in the direction of the truth.

(emphasis mine) Too often, I fear we get so caught up in declaring sin sin that we forget that Jesus loved, both in concept and deed, all sinners, even you and I. The world often says that to love someone, we would never tell them they are in sin. Fischer has it right that while we may use strong language to express the truth of sin, it is how we act toward those people that is important.