We Christians in particular tend to extremes. We're either the "righteous indignation" type ... the "moral superiority" kind ... or the "I'm a sinner, too, so I can't say anything about your sin" kind ... the "judge not" type. But ... Jesus suggests something different. He says, "First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matt 7:5). That's doing it the hard way.
We live with this tension in our lives and in Scripture. We're supposed to forgive (Matt 6:14-15; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13). Absolutely. And we're told, "He who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:47), so ... we're supposed to be ... more loving because we've been forgiven so much ourselves. There it is! See? Don't look at others' sins. I mean, isn't that exactly what Jesus did? When they brought that woman caught in adultery and then left, didn't He say, "Neither do I condemn you" (John 8:1-11)? That's a serious misreading of the text (that, by the way, doesn't exist in the earliest manuscripts ... making it unwise to build an entire doctrinal position on the text).
Jesus said He wasn't in a position to be the person that would condemn her to death at that moment. He wouldn't be stoning her for adultery that day. He did not ignore or condone the sin. He specifically said, "Go and sin no more." That is, "You've been sinning up until now ... don't do it anymore." We, too, are called to first recognize and correct our own sin and then assist others in the same. We're called to forgive and love and "if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted" (Gal 6:1-2).
In the same way, we are commanded to speak the truth ... in love (Eph 4:5). Speaking the truth is fine and love is fine, but we rarely stick them together. We're to always speak the truth, but always with love ... a primary concern for the best interest of the other person. The hard way. We are not called to overlook sin and, thereby, condone and enable it. We are not called to correct everyone with pointing fingers and righteous outrage. We are also not called to ignore it. We're called first to love and, in that love, address our own sin and then theirs ... always with their own best interests in mind. It's the hard way ... but it's what we're supposed to do.
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I was taking to an atheist and he said he wasn't interested in converting me to atheism because whatever makes me feel better is fine. In the face of it, it sounds very magnanimous. But if you really think about it, it is actually very hateful. If Christianity is false, it would be better for me to not believe in it. I told him that believing a true thing is better than believing a false thing, and that I want him to convert to Christianity because I care about him. If you're evangelizing just to make more Christians, you're doing it wrong. You should be evangelizing because you care about these people and want the best for them.
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