If your Facebook newsfeed looked anything like mine this past week, you were probably exposed to a vast amount of reactions to what’s been going on in our nation. My news feed was very…loud. This is blog post is not to say that either side is wrong for feeling the way they do. I just wanted to take a moment to express how I feel this has affected us all. And I would like to zoom in on one particular theme that I’ve seen.
One of the top phrases I kept reading was: “love the sinner, hate the sin”. I read that one way too much. Aside from the fact that it’s not a literal Bible verse, contrary to popular belief, it’s something that is being used in a pretty prideful way. Let me explain…
I have yet to see someone include themselves in that statement. It’s usually used in the “I love them but not what they do” kind of way. As if to say that we are not naturally sinners. I am only redeemed through Him, aside from Him I am a born sinner. So this whole separation is very Pharisee-like in my eyes. “I know the Word, therefore I know God, meaning I can let you know about yourself….through love, of course. ” No. That’s not how it works.
I think our problem is that we assume everyone understands the weight of “sin”. How can we possibly except someone who does not know God to understand sin? We need to know what sin is before a Holy God, but in order to do that we need to know who God is. I heard a preacher word it like this: our issue that we as the church have is are way too pragmatic. And I think that’s true. We want to know how we can teach them. How to make them see their sin and understand why they need to turn from their wicked ways. But we don’t focus on the who.
Somehow we’ve shifted the focus of the message of Jesus from being centered around God to being centered around man. HE is the one we should be focused on teaching about. Teaching about Jesus, His attributes, His works… learning about WHO HE IS. We’re not getting that some people today don’t fear sin because they don’t have a fear for God. They don’t fear God because we aren’t focused on preaching about who He is. This could be because we, ourselves, aren’t focused on learning about who He is anymore.
I think we need to go back to that. And I’m starting with myself. Let’s learn about who God is. How else can we teach who God is?!
(And when we do teach about who He is, we need to be way more intentional about our methods of teaching. When you teach someone, you can’t just throw the material at them, assume they go it, and drop the mic. You read your students. Perform assessments. Did they get it? Should I re-word it? Should I have used a different example? Was the example that I just used relatable to this person’s life? Have I created an atmosphere where my students are able to learn? Did I get rid of any possible distractions? And here’s a good one… Am I mad?! Should I take a breather before I get into this? Our moods will set the tone. Don’t go in with pride or anger. Don’t go in with a spirit of criticism or of hate.) *longest parentheses ever*
These are all things God is teaching me. I’m not here to stand on a soapbox and say I know it all. I write all these things because my class is still in session. The Lord is preparing my heart and spirit for this Race. I do not want to go and preach about Jesus if I’m going about it the wrong way. God is revealing to me what I need to work on and how to better prepare myself to spread His message.
I am grateful for the lessons given by my Teacher.
Grace and Peace
