Can We Biblical Love People Enough?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

As people all over the world mourn the tragic loss of life in Orlando, the reality is slowly becoming clear to people that there are individuals in this world who use their religious beliefs as a hammer to beat people over the head, both figuratively and literally.

As a Christian, I know what the Bible says about sin. I know it has taught me that I’m a sinner and in need of a Savior. That Savior is found only in Jesus and no other. He is the only one who took my place, deliberately placing Himself under the Father’s wrath, so that I could escape it. In all the world’s various religions, none boast this aside from Christianity. Not one and that includes Islam.

Today, there is a growing sense of desperation among folks who simply do not “get it” where Islam is concerned. On one hand, they feel the need to “protect” Islam because, after all, it’s a third world religion with many of its adherents living as though it was still the AD 600 to 700s, during or shortly after the life of Islam’s founder, Muhammad. They dress like him. They think like him and in the end, they do their best to emulate him.

Folks who do not know what Muhammad’s life was like owe it to themselves to find out. But as President Obama has stated, “the future must not belong to those who slander Islam.” Is no one willing to respectfully call out the president? I’ve read numerous articles that read more like the tantrums of children directed to President Obama than I care to remember.

The sad fact though is when that works itself out in reality, we are not supposed to talk about the fact that Muhammad married a six-year-old girl. We are not supposed to state that Muhammad led followers to slaughter villages filled with people. In light of various Islamic countries today, we are also not supposed to talk about the fact that homosexuals are often put to death for the “crime” of being homosexual.

There is tremendous denial today with people equating Christianity and the Bible with Islam and the Qur’an. Many of those within Christendom have helped create this erroneous connection. Because portions of the Mosaic Law talk about capital punishment where homosexuals are concerned, it is wrongly assumed (by Christians and non-Christians alike), that this applies to everyone. The fact is that the Mosaic Law applied only to Israel (with the exception of the moral code that Jesus highlights in the New Testament). The nation of Israel was created by God Himself to be a light to all nations. That “light” was supposed to be such that would act as an invitation to join Israel and draw close to God.

Unfortunately, Israel failed so many times, it’s difficult to keep track of their failures, if not for the Bible itself. Eventually, when they rejected Jesus as Messiah, God literally set them aside (temporarily), bypassing Israel to establish the Church, His Body where salvation is available to all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or status in life (Galatians 3:28). Prior to this, salvation was found only through the nation of Israel (once created) and one had to join themselves to that nation and come under all of the Mosaic Law as well.

Christians have an obligation to obey God’s moral law, which includes removing one’s self from all sexual sin as well as any other sin (lying, stealing, cheating, etc.). But Christians also have to recognize that it is our primary purpose to express God’s love to others. This does not necessarily include pointing out that specific sins are heinous, while downplaying others, as is often done. In fact, do I really have time to focus on the sin in other’s lives? Shouldn’t my focus be on ensuring that my daily living is equal to my actual standing before God?

I recall when people like Kirk Cameron have been asked for their opinion on homosexuality or same-sex unions. Who in America is not aware of the Christian perspective regarding these issues? Why does it have to be repeated so often? All it really does is create more tension and engender bigotry. Why do Christians continue to fall for this? Why is my opinion so important? It is merely a way for those who are already opposed to God to force a Christian to make a statement that will live forever and provides a reason for that same Christian to be hated and seen as “hateful.” You are then added to the list of “haters.”

The issue of homosexuality and same-sex unions should not define the Christian. The issue that should define the Christian is the issue of salvation. But that is not often the case.

I was reading some forums yesterday and it was interesting to me to read comments from self-identified gay people who are totally fed up with the chicanery of our commander-in-chief and other politicians. They have had it and have stated they will be voting for the candidate who says he is willing to call terrorism, terrorism.

It wasn’t long someone came into the thread and essentially told the person that he needed to get right with God and reject that lifestyle. The response was that he understood he would be judged by God and so would the other person.

The truth is that people know that “Jesus saves.” They need to see love in action and I’m not talking about the feeling of love. I’m talking about the biblical definition of love. It is stated for us in numerous places in Scripture and clearly defined. We have no excuse, yet we still fail because we are more adept at pointing out error and sin than we are in mirroring God’s love.

Here are various Bible passages that define God’s definition of love. Please go there and take the time to read them, analyze them, contemplate them, and ask the Lord to help you live them. I will state very clearly that I know that I do not love enough (and certainly not perfectly!), and you probably don’t either. This doesn’t mean we ignore sin, but we’d better be spending more time noticing our own sin before we point fingers at others.

Another thing we need to realize is that the directives given by Paul and others in Scripture where we are to deal with sin in others almost always has to do with how Christians are to act toward other Christians, within the confines of the local church. Even there, a great deal of compassion and humility needs to be utilized realizing that if we’re not careful, we ourselves could fall and fall hard if we condemn others.

As far as the non-Christian is concerned, it is not our job as Christians to point out their specific sins and try to correct them. Our job is to explain their need for salvation because like us, they cannot save themselves, and need the same Savior we have.

You know, this is a very tough subject to broach because no matter how I explain it, there is always the chance someone will misunderstand what I’m saying. For some, I’m not being “tough” enough. For others, I’m still being too “tough.”

The question to ask ourselves is this: can we love in biblical terms enough?

I can’t. If you can, good on you. Show the rest of us how it’s done, all right?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective