I’m hearing a new kind of “Christian” response to sin, but before I share it, let me share an example of a response I’ve never heard:
“My aunt has let people know that she intends to be unfaithful to my uncle, and my cousin openly admits that he cheats people in his business dealings. But I don’t judge them. I just love them.”
We don’t hear this because Scripture says, “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Christians understand that it's not loving to remain silent when someone chooses a lifestyle that separates them from the life-giving salvation of Christ. It's our responsibility to lovingly warn them (Ezekiel 3:18; James 4:17; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Why, then, do we so often hear Christians saying something like this:
“My aunt has come out as gay and my nephew is transitioning to a girl. But I don’t judge them. I just love them.”
Christ warned us that “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12-13). Believing we can love people while remaining silent about their sins shows that we've been taken in by worldly propaganda.
We are called by Christ to share the message of repentance and forgiveness in His name (Luke 24:46-47). And that's the most loving thing we can do.
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If you've been confused by other statements such as “It's not our place to judge,” please see the Judging Biblically Collection. These devotions will explain that there are right ways and wrong ways to judge.
I also encourage you to read God's Commands about Intimacy and Sexual History.
Full-text Scriptures
1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The passage below was a warning to God's Old Testament prophets, and it contains an important principle for us.
Ezekiel 3:18-19: “When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.”
James 4:17: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
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