sin or love30

Prudence is wise and took the words right out of my mouth.
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Sorry I'm late to the party on this one, but I am passionate about the subject. A question I always pose to Christians is, "Will your words and/or actions more likely lead unbelievers toward Christ or away from Him?" I think today's version of "Pharisees" who take apparent joy in pointing out others' "sin" (in or outside of the church) have done far more harm to the Kingdom of God than any help they might have been. Of course there are consequences for sin and unbelievers need to made aware of those. But I believe Christians are called, and expected, to share the good news of the gospel. And I don't believe there is any method that works better than living a life that pleases God. It opens so many doors to be able to share Christ's love with others. When a relationship of trust and love is built, that then opens the door for discussions of sin and consequences without the risk of pushing them away from God. I trust God to do the rest.
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a great thing to keep in mind. I hope they will lead others toward Him

That's a great question! I've been dealing with the same thing. I find it very interesting the way Jesus handles people. He never confronts anyone other than the religious people and when he talks to "sinners" or heals them he often said to "go and sin no more." but never really tells them what their sin is. Does he assume they already know? Does his presence itself convict people? Now, how to we do that? I dunno!
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good questions m an. now I'm thinking more

Good conversation here folks

When a person committs a sin doesn't define who they are, its an act they committ, therefore I believe that everyone can repent as you said from anything. And yes, loving unconditionally is a very hard thing to do, but if you have heart you can accomplish love in all forms even for the sinners.
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Wow. Lots of comments on this one! :)

IMHO, the Spirit does a much better job at convicting people and causing them to change than we do.
It's not anger or accusations but "kindness that leads to repentance."

Does never 'sinning' ensure that I will go to heaven? Or will I still go to heaven whether I sin or not? Where is the balance?
Are some sins ok and others not? Is there a sin that will keep me out of Heaven?

love is obedience.
sin is disobedience.

2 Timothy 3:16:17 (Amplified Bible)

16Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action) 17So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

we must know the balance of grace & holiness.

we must know how to speak the TRUTH in LOVE.

I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on "the balance of holiness and grace." You feel the two counter each other, thus having the possibility of balance between them?

sorry..i didnt see this reply in my email till now.

i dont feel like the two counter each other. i dont think Jesus ever meant for the both to counter each other. the tendency of us human beings though, is to swing to an extreme side of the pendulum.

some rely on grace alone and therefor say it's okay to do everything coz God will forgive you anyway.... not realizing that we do deal with a Holy God who commands us to be holy.

and some are waaaay legalistic and have no grace.... forgetting all that they've been forgiven from.

Jesus is the perfect example of balancing grace and holiness. when he met the adulterer, He called her out on her sins (speaking the truth in love), extended mercy and grace (by not stoning her), but also told her to "go and sin no more" (which is making an emphasis on holiness).

i hope im making sense =/

I must add that, when "pointing out someone's sin", God's wisdom is needed. Look at how Jesus dealt with some sinners in the bible. Different strokes for different folks. Think about it: the woman caught in adultery about to be stoned, Paul (before his conversion), Peter (the get behind me Satan, event mentioned above), Pharisees, buyers & sellers in the temple, the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, etc., etc.

If we only love and never talk about sin, what's with all this talk about accountability you hear people talking about? I would find it somewhat ridiculous to say, let's lose accountability and just love.

Sin has become a bad word, like Christian, so we don't mention it anymore.

I've never understood this. I want accountability. I want the hard conversations. I want someone to call out my sins when I'm hiding them. And through that, I want to be free from the sin that just keeps me from knowing God.

Good post man, I hope the conversation continues!

thanks man. this actually comes after me saying something and another Christian telling me I shouldn't say something to offend a person in that certain sin. They said it might turn them in the wrong direction and become bitter towards Christians. We should just love them was their point. This really got me to thinkin.

Man, I'm with you, I would've said something. If you were doing something and I didn't call you out, how can I say I really love you? I love you so much to let you continue in your sin? For what? So that grace can abound? Paul called entire churches out! LOL!

Good stuff, man. I've been thinking along a lot of similar themes lately. I grew up in a very "call it out" environment, but standing on this side of that experience, I know I grew up among a lot of religious undiscipled disciples. The possible danger of just anyone who calls themselves a "Christian" is that you have a bunch of spiritual people who dig Jesus but have their own divided hearts to deal with, which often results in the "calling out" of a lot of personal convictions and vices rather than actual sin. I think the barometer of how you can approach this is how you feel in your heart when you have the opportunity to confront someone regarding sin you see in their life. If you feel in your heart that you are better than that person because you don't do "x", then you should probably shut up, sit down and deal with the pride in your heart before you try to correct anyone. :)
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Speaking the word in love, with grace, seasoned with salt is good! I so appreciate the times in my life when I've needed to hear, what might appear to some, a "hard" word. However, I believe people recognize a compassionate and loving person, even when they don't care to always hear what they say. Reminds me of children. They really want parents who will show them right from wrong. But they also need parents who will show them they are loved. Having one with out the other doesn't work. Same in the Body of Christ.

Love like Jesus loved. Hmm. I remember Him (well, according to Scripture) looking into Peter's eyes and saying "Get behind me, Satan!" Was that loving? Indeed it was. If you "love" someone, that means you need to be willing to get in their grill when they're messing up - and you'll still love them if they don't change their behavior immediately. The problem we tend to have is we try to manage the situation for God. It's our job to call sin, "SIN," "LOVE" like Jesus would, but let "JESUS" change hearts through the Holy Spirit.

I believe that we can't judge a nonbeliever by the Bible, they aren't reading it. I do believe that we are to , in love, hold believer's accountable to the Bible and call sin what it is.

Love the sinner first with Christ's love. When we do that, they will be willing to listen to our witness, and God's judgement.

I find that when you get down to the root of unbelief, for most, it's a belief that they aren't good enough, and don't deserve God's love. When it explained the NONE of us do, and his love is demonstrated in our actions, the change of heart will follow.

Most people don't need to be told what sin is.
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First off...using the word judge isn't appropriate. I don't judge what's sin and what's not...the bible does. How can you say you have the love of Christ and not be willing to tell someone they are in sin, which leads to death? Wait till their saved? They'll get saved if we're really nice guys? What are they getting saved from if you don't let them know they are dying?

Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You are going to die,’ and you don’t sound the alarm warning them that it’s a matter of life or death, they will die and it will be your fault. I’ll hold you responsible.19 But if you warn the wicked and they keep right on sinning anyway, they’ll most certainly die for their sin, but you won’t die. You’ll have saved your life.

We don't have a choice in it...LOVE is the key to telling the truth! We must love them...but we MUST tell them the truth! We don't damn and condemn...we love. and because we love we speak truth...because their lives and souls are the most important thing in the world to us!

you hit the nail on the head! the world will be judged by God... its not our job to point out their sin... but it is our job to hold our brothers in christ accountable in love!!!

Loving people means we need to point out the wrongs they do, to their own detriment. The Bible also states clearly that one must repent of your sins, and that is a non-negotiable in my opinion, so like most have said, to love like Jesus, is to rebuke like Jesus rebuked as well.

I'm one that constantly says we ought to love like Jesus, because really we should. Part of loving isn't just letting someone know of all the rights that God has worked through them, but also pointing out when their flesh had worked through them.

To not let someone know their in sin when its clear, isn't loving like Jesus at all.

Love the person not the sin. In God's eyes is lying any worse than adultery or coveting? Sin is sin no matter how you look at it. Sin separates us from God and our goal is to become closer to God. I believe pointing out another person's sin without the love of God will not bring that person any closer to God and it just might make them go away. However, if you do it in love you just might save that person and help them to seek out God's will instead of their own. Just a thought.

For the record I appreciated the pastor that told me what sin was. For the record

... that the point... loving someone and telling them about their sin ... like here http://jasonthebaldguy.com/2010/03/i-cant-not/
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agreed

Jesus loved people first, then he dealt with their sin... we are called to deal with others in the same way... ironically Jesus butted heads most often with the "self-righteous" Pharasees... he gave them a hard time not because they sinned more.. but because their souls were empty of love. They only loved to be right. The law was given so that we would know how hopeless we are to do good on our own... the purpose of this was not to proliferate a frustrating existence of eternal failure to please God ... but more to encourage a passionate longing to love the Father for the Grace that he has poured out by sacrificing his own Son... The issue has never been SIN... SIN is a Symptom of a deeper problem...we are selfish... by loving GOD with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves we become selfless... and we become what GOD desires... Lovers of him... not obedient drones.
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I think if you are to love someone like Jesus loves than you have to point out someone's sin. Jesus just didn't overlook the sin of those around Him. He called them out on it. He forgave when they were repentant. Loving isn't overlooking someone's sin.
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