The tension between standing against sin and refraining from appearing judgmentally harsh is significant. Churches seem to opt for one strongly or the other. From squint-eyed to oblivious, we set out to do the Master's work.
Sin is not to be accepted. Sinners are. Thus, reality. The lessening of either is not the call of the One who died upon the tree.
How do we stand against sin and for sinners?
The solution is quite simple; uncanny really.
When the potential critic realizes his or her own sin; the stones are dropped. It isn't that sin has been accepted without care. It is that personal sin has been claimed with care. When we realize that whoever would be our target of disdain is not as guilty as we personally, then one can proceed without blazing guns a-firing.
The log and the speck instructions are still in play. I am my most efficient in helping others with overcoming sin when I keep in mind mine first. Tenderness seems to replace bullying. Strange how that works.
Sin is more grievous than the church seems to grasp. It is the size of the turmoil on the way to the cross. We have a knack of dismissing ours, though. The sinners guilty of matters unlike ours are the ones we deem idiots.
We can and should stand against sin without being critical of the sinner for we are all just alike. Jesus died for all, remember; not just for them.
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