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In Defense of “Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner”
Nervously looking for the mob with pitchforks
I’m going to wade into treacherous mine-field territory here on Medium by contending the following:
“Hate the sin, love the sinner” is (in and of itself) a biblically-grounded and entirely reasonable statement, albeit one that’s often spoken with condescension and not-so-veiled bigotry.
Well, since it’s often spoken with condescension and bigotry, we should stop saying it!
Hold on there!
Every proposition can be articulated with a touch of condescension or veiled behind a veneer of contempt. Even the most innocuous acts of expression can shroud ill intentions or serve some clandestine, nefarious motive.
The Book of Proverbs warns about this:
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. (Proverbs 23:6–7, KJV)
We must always be wise and vigilant. We must always be concerned with people’s true hearts and motives, and (yes)…
