Telling People What They Need to Hear
“…speaking the truth in love,” (Ephesians 4:15)
Why do Christians feel they have to go around speaking out against sin and telling people to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour? Why can’t they just let people live their lives?
It’s not because Christians hate people. At least it shouldn’t be. A Christian who may be tempted to hate sinners should do what Isaiah 51:1 says: “…look unto… the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” That is for you as a Christian to think about your past and where you could have been, on earth and in eternity, if Jesus hadn’t saved you. Doing this will help you keep your perspective right.
Christians speak against sin to stop it from ruining people’s lives. Proverbs 27:6a says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend;” A friend will risk offending you to tell you something that you need to hear. If you have a friend who drinks or gambles, and you see he’s hurting himself and his family, shouldn’t you be enough of a friend to say something to try to stop him? Not just for his sake, but for his wife and kids?
Sin can be fun for a short time. Hebrews 11:25 speaks of enjoying “…the pleasures of sin for a season;” (boldface added) Later, though, it shows its destructive nature. Liquor is a perfect example: “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” (Proverbs 23:31-32)
Speaking out against sin is not hate speech. Advocating violence against those who do the sin IS hate speech and un-Christlike. Yet speaking against sin in an appropriate way is not hate speech. Jesus spoke against sin. He told certain people, “…ye devour widows’ house, and for a pretence make long prayer:” (Matthew 23:14) He said that to people who needed to hear it. He hated their sin but loved them.
Christians also speak against sin because others can be enticed into it. Proverbs 1:10-11 and 14-15 says, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us,…Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” The sinners in this passage want others to join them. People who enjoy sin often entice others to join them.
Liquor, gambling, and pornography are all popular because people entice other people to do it. Someone entices someone else to drink, gamble, or look at pornography, and someone else in turn entices someone else, and so sin spreads like a contagion. When sexual sin is popularized on TV or in music, it’s a form of enticement for viewers to engage in the same sin.
Most importantly, Christians talk against sin and tell people how Jesus saves because that’s why Jesus came to earth: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
As Jesus hung on the cross in agony, people mocked Him horribly: “…If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now,” (Matthew 27:40, 42, 43) And look what Jesus said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) If you ever wonder if Jesus would forgive you your sins, look at it this way: He was willing to forgive those people then, so He’s willing to forgive and save you. God’s Word says so!
If you want to see how to have your sins forgiven and eternal life by receiving Jesus, God the Son, as your personal Saviour, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click, “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 3/27/2023
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822