By: Corey BonassoIf you have been a Christian or have been around the Church for a while, you’ve probably heard the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin.” It’s a clear and succinct way to describe accurately how we are to relate to our fellow humans, unbelievers and believers alike. Putting that into practice, however, is a much more difficult task.
Today’s culture is rife with division. It’s hard to imagine a time when society was more divided in its views, beliefs, and values. I understand that may be a bold statement when reflecting on the massive global and national conflicts in our history. America exists and continues because of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, etc… There were definitely some very divisive views, beliefs, and values in those days. Even still, I believe that the division that exists today is different. People are less inclined to hate someone because of what nation they belong to – in fact, I believe that the world as a whole is moving in the opposite direction away from racism and xenoism, which is a good thing. The division and hate we see today seems much more personal. The rhetoric you’re more likely to hear today is, “You voted for a democrat? Do you want the economy to crash?” Or alternatively, “You voted republican? Do you even care about other people?” Obviously, these are oversimplifications, but the sentiment remains the same. The theme of discourse among people today (especially Americans) is that different equals bad; “You think differently than I, therefore you are of lesser value than I.”
Now, it’s unlikely that anyone would come out and say something that explicit, but I believe that type of attitude tends to permeate our thinking (even unconsciously) simply because we are sinful and selfish human beings living in a broken world. I am painfully aware of this in myself and it’s something I have to work against continuously with the help and grace of our God. When these types of thoughts pop up, I have to be quick to remember that the way I think and the values I hold are contrary to those of God.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.
If God were to dismiss or immediately hate a person because their thoughts were different than his thoughts, he would hate every human being. He would hate me. We are all tainted by sin, which automatically makes our thoughts different than God’s. It is only by God’s mercy that we can have a relationship with him at all. God does not dismiss us or hate us for our lowly and different thoughts, but he also does he tolerate these thoughts in us. He brings us alongside him and gently molds us through his spirit to align our thoughts with his. The preceding verse in Isaiah tells us this:
7 “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” Isaiah 55:7.
And let me be clear, the words “wicked” and “the evil man” are references to you and me and every other person who has existed.
So how do we forsake our way and our evil thoughts? Paul addressed the topic as such:
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:2-3 (emphasis added).
By studying and meditating on scripture, God will change our thinking. Being in his word and presence consistently and continuously will renew our minds because we will become more and more familiar with the thoughts of God. Verse 3 of Romans 12 gets at the heart of the issue as to why we may think that “different equals bad.” It is because we are naturally inclined to value ourselves over others. Paul tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. In fact, Paul also tells us in Philippians 2:3 to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Not only are we not supposed to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, but we are to consider others more significant than ourselves.
Now before I continue, I want to be clear, nowhere in these verses does God tell us to think less of ourselves – rather we are told not to overvalue ourselves. We are God’s creation that he took time to craft with his own hands rather than simply speak into existence. God made us in his own image, and we are valuable to him. We are so valuable to him that he sacrificed his only son in order to save us. Anyone who has children (and most people who don’t) will understand just how significant of a sacrifice that is, yet God willingly gave himself up for us.
So if God valued us enough to make us in his own image and to send his only son to die for us to rescue us from the consequences of sin, how are we supposed to value ourselves? We are to value ourselves as God values us – as treasured children. We are treasured by God, and we should treasure ourselves appropriately. This perspective and view of ourselves should not, and must not, be at the expense of treasuring others – the two are not mutually exclusive. We must treasure ourselves, and we must treasure others even more. God’s grace covered our sin, and we did nothing to earn that. That puts every human on a level playing field. The works we do for Christ after we have placed our trust in him are works we do out of the “measure of faith that God has assigned.” When we see ourselves with the appropriate perspective (as a sinner just like everyone else), then God can use us in ways we couldn’t have imagined before. Our resistance or disobedience won’t stop or slow God’s plans, but we are richly blessed and rewarded when we obey and allow God to work through us without limitation.
There will always be division in this world. People, including some believers, will always think of themselves more highly than others. However, the division that we should fight the good fight against is the division of humanity from our God created by sin. Jesus’ death on the cross is the only thing that bridged that division and separation. We are all sinful and separated from God, and our only hope is Jesus. Paul tells us this:
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee [evil] things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:11-12.
There are so many people in this world that don’t know Christ or the good news that his truth brings. We must maintain a proper perspective of those people, that God created them in his image and treasures them. When we understand this, we will never cease to share the good news with as many of God’s treasured creations as possible. This is the good fight. It’s not a fight against conservatism or liberalism or socialism or racism or xenoism or Qdoba or Chipotle or Marshall or WVU or fill-in-the-blank. The good fight is the fight against sin and the devil’s tactics and schemes. The fight for God’s truth to be heard and for it to illuminate our lives.
The Fall season is my favorite season of all. The air is crisp and cool, the trees are colorful and vibrant. The other morning, I woke up before the sun and in an effort not to wake up my wife and children, I slunk as noiselessly as possible to the garage to exercise. It was very dark, and I made my way around the house mostly be memory and feel of the walls and doors. I could only see shadows and silhouettes. I couldn’t see anything outside. However, 40 sweaty and breathless minutes later when I looked outside, I saw a very different scene. The trees were a bright red and the sky was a clear, pale pink. Pictures don’t to it justice, but it was breathtaking. This is a fitting analogy of how proper perspective changes the way we see reality. When we are still in our sin, we can only see shadows and silhouettes as we grope along blindly. However, when we are in God’s presence, we see the world through the “light of the world” that is Jesus. And friends, let me tell you, the world that we see when it is bathed in the true light of God’s presence is more beautiful and majestic than we could ever imagine. That is why we fight the good fight – to bring as many souls as possible to experience that with us through the working of his holy spirit.
Church, as we go about our lives and fight the good fight, let us not cling to the darkness that we love and rely on merely shadows and silhouettes – let us embrace the beautiful light that God’s presence brings and rejoice that we get to experience the truth of God’s love for us.