Hating the Sin Without Judging the Sinner
Rev. Mr. Matthew Newsome
Jun 26, 2017 · 4 min read
We’ve had an invasion of ants in our yard this year. In an attempt to mitigate the situation, I purchased some heavy-duty ant poison which I mixed up in a spray bottle, which I then — unfortunately — left out on our porch after using. I realized my mistake when I looked out the window to see one of my younger sons spraying his little brother with it.
I quickly dashed outside and took the bottle away from him. He thought there was just water in it and was using it as a squirt gun. As I washed them both down with the garden hose, I explained why it is dangerous to play with unknown spray bottles.
Before I sprang into action, I made a judgment. I didn’t judge my kids. I knew they were acting out of ignorance. I did chastise myself for leaving the ant spray where the kids could find it. But most importantly, I made an immediate judgment that my children’s actions were not safe. That judgment on my part enabled me to quickly step in and prevent any real harm from being done.
There is a lesson here about the proper way we are to interpret Christ’s command not to judge others, as given in Matthew 7:1–6.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, 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.
It is clear from this passage that Christians are forbidden from judging others. The judgement Christ is talking about is a judgment upon another’s soul. Christ tells us that if we judge others harshly, we can expect to be harshly judged. All of us have sinned. It is hypocritical for us to condemn other people when we also deserve condemnation. If we expect God to have mercy on us, we need to extend that mercy to others. Indeed, this is what we pray for any time we say the Lord’s Prayer. “
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Mt 6:12).
But there is another popular maxim among Christians:
Hate the sin; love the sinner. Lately people have started to display a negative attitude toward this phrase. Admittedly it has become somewhat of a cliche, but there is truth to these words. It makes an important distinction between actions and persons.
Many reject this saying today because society has associated certain sinful actions (especially when it comes to sexual morality) with personal identity, so that to “hate the sin” is tantamount to “hating the sinner.” This makes the statement appear hypocritical. This is unfortunate, because the distinction between the sin and the sinner is a real one. Understanding this distinction is the key to making right judgments.
Imagine you saw someone pick up a glass you knew was full of a poisonous liquid. They bring it up to their lips and begin to take a drink. What do you do? I hope you would shout out, “Stop, that’s poisonous!” or even rush forward to knock the glass out of their hand.
In doing so, you have made a judgment. You judged this person’s action to be harmful, and intervened to stop them. This did not require you to make any sort of judgment about the person. Did they know the glass was poisonous and were trying to commit suicide? Are they suffering from delusions and think they are immune to poison? Perhaps they mistakenly thought the glass was full of water and were only trying to quench their thirst. Or maybe they have a physiological condition that makes them crave something in the poison. Who knows?
You don’t need to know anything about their knowledge or intention in order to make an objective judgment about their action. Far from condemning them for their action, your judgment allows you to display your love for them by working for their good.
Love at its root means to desire the good of the other. To love, then, requires us to make judgments about what is good and what is not.
Just as poison is harmful to our bodies, sin is harmful to our souls. We “hate the sin”
precisely because we “love the sinner.” Warning someone about the danger of sin is no more of a condemnation of the person than warning them about the dangers of drinking poison.
