Psalm 97:10-12
Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
Most people would say that we are not supposed to hate. However, Christians should hate evil. Evil is the enemy of God and therefore is also our enemy. I am struggling with what I see in the lives of professing Christians, including myself. This is not about pointing out specks in others while there are planks in our own eyes. This is about realizing that we all need help seeing. If we do not confront one another then we are just a horde of blind leading blind with the inevitable ditch before us. We are supposed to be representatives of Christ. What kind of representation are we as a collective and as individuals? What specks and planks should we be confronting?
6 comments:
What do you imagine when you say "specks and planks"? How do you define "evil"?
Hate the evil put not the person? What if the act of evil happen without the person knowing?
There are sins of omission and sins of comission. One you realize you are doing it when you do it and the other you don't. That's when it comes to confronting a Christian in love and pointing it out. Read Matthew 18:15-17.
I believe that the question, “what is evil?” comes down to defining sin. Well, what does the bible say is sinful?
Take a look at the 10 commandments. Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. In them are the basics for how to live at peace with God and with people.
2 Timothy chapter 3 makes the following list:
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Sins are greed, hate, sexual immorality (fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and lust), idolatry, blasphemy, being inhospitable, drunkenness, lying, and claiming to be without sin.
The word "sin" appears 433 times in the NIV so this list is not exhaustive.
Hmmm... this could make a good research project. Is "sin" more than "a sinful act"? What about Paul talking about sin as a "force" or "power"? In Genesis 3, is sin contained to the act of eating, or is there sin as a force/power lurking in that story as well? Also, the effects of sin (curse) in that story point to more than "stuff we do wrong." Included is the idea of sin as brokenness (relationally, in the earth, etc.). There's more... but maybe your next research project could be on sin (word study, theological study, etc.)
Oh, and I wanted to say that I read the "Nice Rack" post... and I don't know what to say... I'm sorry you got the response you did from whoever you talked to in the library... and I think there is legitmate concern there. Do you feel the need to act on that concern?
Yeah. Sin is totally more than sinful acts. Sin exists within our being. It is a result of the fall of Adam and the brokenness that passed from him through the seed of men to all humanity. (Genesis 3)It is a power that exists in opposition to God. Sin is also a condition that we are subject to while in our flesh. (Romans 7)
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