Forcing Hate

You've heard "love the sinner, hate the sin." But striving to hate sin is a dead end that puts your mind on sin instead of on Jesus and loving others. Love the sinner, hate the sin says to people, "I love you but I'm gonna focus my hatred on your faults." Y'know because the smart way to love someone is to focus on their faults right?

1 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love does not take into account a wrong." So it is impossible to love the sinner & hate the sin. If you hate their sin you've stopped loving them because you're keeping account of their wrongs to hate on. God's attitude toward sin is love's attitude. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says God doesn't hold any one's sins against them. God didn't ignore sin, He condemned sin in His flesh on the cross.

God will never make me feel shame or guilt for my actions. God will reveal truth to me & He still loves me so He will help me stop my harmful behaviors. There is no hate involved, just love.

I'm not saying it is wrong to have a distaste for evil. My beef is that "hate the sin" is phrased as a command. The idea behind the quote is that when someone does something "sinful" I am obligated to hate their sin, as if I am not allowed to love a sinner without hating their sin. All I remember Jesus doing was loving the sinner & confronting those who burden others.

God has never painfully shown me the truth unless that truth caused me to feel pain for another person because He revealed a piece of their heart to me. I honestly can't think of a time God even called me out for doing wrong. What happens in my life is God turns my mind naturally & immediately back to Him in most cases where I do something wrong. Not even in a, "Oh boy I'm thankful you forgave me" but more like I just forget about what happened (unless I need to reconcile with someone) & go on walking in the joy & peace of the spirit within moments of doing the wrong. That is the freedom of His love. I used to be burdened for days over screwing up now I am free & joyful in who God is even a moment after screwing up without even trying. He causes my focus to default on Him.

The context of John 16:8 says Jesus convicts those who don't trust in Him of sin. It says He convicts the people who trust Him of righteousness (a play on words that means he declares them "guilty" of not being guilty). "Convict" is a direct synonym of the word "condemn." Convict means "to declare guilty." Condemnation is a "pronouncement of guilt." Romans 8:1 says there is NO condemnation in Christ. God will not charge His child with guilt. (Accuse & convict are synonyms too). In the secular world "convict" is used to describe someone being found guilty in court & sentenced to imprisonment. So I wouldn't use that word because I feel it gives the wrong message to Christians & non-Christians alike.

God does refute us (sometimes translated as rebuke) which means He leads us out of false beliefs we have (such as "this isn't hurting anyone"). Hebrews 12 says that sort of thing can make us "sorrowful or irritated" but "afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Personally I haven't felt sorrowful or irritated over God refuting me because the truth is so much better than the falsehood I believed.

People shouldn't have to strive to hate sin. If you do you do, if you don't you don't. To force yourself to hate some one's actions actually makes you less loving toward that person. The way I've heard the "love the sinner, hate the sin" quote used most often is to basically say, "You can be friends with a 'sinner' but you have to let them know that you don't condone what they do & that you hate their sin." It almost comes across as "You're not allowed to love a sinner unless you also hate their sin, if you don't hate their sin you're a bad Christian & susceptible to becoming like them."

The quote isn't even from scripture. 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, "Do not regard anyone according to the flesh." While I can hate evil & try to protect those I love from it that doesn't mean I should deliberately hate some one's actions as the quote suggests. That is a terrible idea that makes it harder to love people. Ask yourself, How can I forgive someone while hating their sin?

What Jesus Hates & Despises

What Jesus Hates
"Yet this you do have assembly in Ephesus, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" (Revelation 2:6).
"You assembly in Pergamum have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans" (Revelation 2:15).

Nico means to rule over. Laitans means laity which simply translated means "people." God hates the deeds & doctrines (teachings) that involve some people ruling over other people in His body. That means God hates hierarchical authority in the body of Christ.

Interesting that the assembly in Ephesus is the first one written to, it represents the first century body of Christ, those who had not adopted the ungodly doctrine and deeds of hierarchical authority.

The assembly in Pergamum is the third one written to. Pergamum means "mixed Marriage" or "perverted marriage." Jesus says they "have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans" meaning hierarchical authority. He says hierarchical authority is "a stumbling block" and it causes people to "commit acts of immorality" (Revelation 2:14-15). The assembly in Pergamum represents the beginning of the institutional church from around the third century which began to have "leaders" (bishops, priests etc) rise up over other people thus usurping the headship of Christ. Headship which of course points to marriage thus setting up a "mixed marriage." How hate worthy is the thing that causes someone to cheat in their marriage? That friends is what hierarchical authority in the body of Christ is.

Hierarchical authority is the only thing in the New Testament that Jesus personally says that He "hates." The entire institutional church is built on hierarchical authority. No church of that sort can claim to "hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans" like Jesus said those in Ephesus did because they are all doing those deeds and in fact not only approve of the deeds but highly exalt the deeds.

Jesus also spoke harshly to the self-righteous but notice that those self-righteous people were exclusively people in positions of hierarchical authority. Hierarchical authority is the fertilizer that makes self-righteousness grow.

Here are two other places where Jesus spoke against hierarchical authority:
Jesus said, "Do not be called leaders because you have one Leader, Christ and you are all brothers" (see Matthew 23:1-12). In this context Jesus speaks against accepting (allowing others to call you by) honorary titles. He also speaks against lack of humility, laying burdens on people, bossing people around, doing things to be noticed by others so you can receive acclaim, loving to be in places of honor, & being greeted as better than others based on your position.

Jesus said to His disciples, "The kings of the Gentiles have power over/exercise authority over them but it shall not be so among you" (see Luke 22:13-30). In this context Jesus speaks against exercising authority over brothers and sisters in Christ (abusive or non-abusive), seeking status over others, & using honorary titles to make yourself seem kind or superior.

What Jesus Despises
The writer of Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus despised the shame of the cross, meaning He felt all the shame and disgrace that mankind has ever felt because of sin. Christ despises the shame we feel, not us but the shame that causes us to feel far from Him as it did with Adam and Eve in the garden (compare Genesis 2:25 with Genesis 3:10). Shame is disgrace, the literal opposite of grace. It is the feeling or perception of disfavor, that you've lost favor with God. God gives grace not disgrace. “Everyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame” (Isaiah 28:16, Romans 9:33, 10:11, 1 Peter 2:6, Joel 2:26-27, Isaiah 45:17, 54:4). He wants us to know His love. Imagine if something made someone you love feel as if you didn't love them or that you loved them less. That is how Jesus felt on the cross when He was despising the shame. The God who loves us without measure felt how unloved we feel. 

Conclusion
Sadly hierarchical authority & shame meet at the pulpit, an unbiblical place at every church institution where the so called "leader," "pastor," or "man of God" slings shame and condemnation over a subdued crowd. I have yet to hear a sermon that didn't at some point disgrace grace. I don't say this to shame anyone but to warn of the danger in it. If those on top don't suffer, those on the bottom will and in ways many can't begin to imagine. Usually both suffer but are fooled into thinking that this is "God's way." Be assured that it is not. Heed the words of Jesus. Drop your titles, leave your positions, become a brother or sister and let Christ do what He came to do, build His people.

Jesus did away with the old covenant system of hierarchical authority when He rose again and sent His Spirit. This allowed Him to be the only & perfect mediator between mankind and God (1 Timothy 2:5). He made all of God's people kings and priests, all honored but all equal. What an amazing Lord we have!


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