The last thing anyone wants to hear is someone else talking about how to deal with all the turmoil in the culture wars. But, hear me out. The current political and sociological climates in North America have evangelical Christians scrambling for an appropriate response. On the one hand, we have this Spirit-infused love that we feel for all people, yet on the other we feel a responsibility to the truth of God’s Word and right and wrong. Sometimes we err to one side or the other of the balance between truth and love. But, I wonder if we are trying to balance or handle the wrong thing when we speak of truth and love as opposing ideas in God’s economy. What if both of those things are just players in the game of God’s glory? See, I think we miss the point when we argue for either as separate entities. In fact, the two are intertwined and cannot be separated as different concepts. God’s truth is love. It is the very real fact that we all have a sin problem that puts us at odds with God. That sin might be homosexuality, lying, cheating, anger, gossip, and a whole assortment of things. To call any one issue anything different than sin, is to diminish God’s love. See, God’s love is most evident in the saving from sin. When we remove that (sin) which He saves us from, we remove the concept of His perfect love. In essence, to call something right which God has called sin, is to rob people of God’s love. It is the carrying out of His perfect love in the gospel that brings God glory.
The point. We need to stop thinking of God as if He operates by our understanding of concepts. Psalm 50:21 when addressing Israel’s sin, God makes it clear that He is not like us, He is beyond us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 records that when we look deep into knowing Him (through the Bible) we see His glory unfolding. Ephesians 3 makes it clear that we cannot know the boundaries or even fathom His love.
Unless you have bathed your response to someone’s sin in prayer AND deep Bible study…taking into account church history and those who have exegeted the Scriptures well (who are smarter than you), you need to remain quiet. Speaking wrongly about an issue as God’s representative diminishes His love, which diminishes your representation of His glory. I don’t know about you, but I want no part of diminishing God’s glory. So be careful, be slow to speak, and study before you comment.