Love the sinner, hate the sin

It’s a phrase that you hear a lot in the church, especially in regard to those who are attracted to individuals of the same gender, those the public refers to as homosexuals.  It’s thrown out without a whole lot of thought, and I wonder if people really think about it.  Is it a phrase that can be used within a faith community, especially a Christian one, and remain true?  Is it biblical?

First, I think it’s important to note that the phrase never occurs in the Bible.  There are similar verses that can be teased out and interpreted in such a way that they potentially have that understanding.  However, the phrase itself comes from Gandhi’s 1929 autobiography.  I find it fascinating that so many Christians have adopted the words of a Hindu as biblical truth – truly the Spirit moves in amazing ways!

Many people over the years have attempted to address this phrase, and I do not know if adding to the wise and learned words of others will do anything other than muddy the waters; but after hearing the phrase again over the weekend, I feel I need to respond.

What does it mean to love?  In ancient Greek there are four forms of love, each with their own distinct meanings:  Eros – that’s romantic love.  Philia – that’s the love friends have for one another.  Storge – that’s the love that exists within a family: parent to child, sibling to sibling, etc.  Agape – unconditional love (God’s love).  Whenever we speak about love (or its opposite) we must be aware of the type of love we are speaking of.  Obviously when I say to my best friend, “I love you, man”  it means something different than when I say, “I love you” to my spouse.

The Bible has lots of things to say about love.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deut 6:5)  “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:5)  “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;” (Lament. 3:22)  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor. 13:1)  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7,8)

The Bible also has some things to say about hate.  “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?  I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.” (Psalm 139: 21,22)  “You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”  (Matt 5:43,44)  “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”  (Luke 14:26)

So, what is hate?  Hate is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a: Intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; b : extreme dislike or antipathy”  That’s a rather basic definition, which is the way most dictionaries define words.  But, we all know that there are lots of variations when it comes to hate.  The hate we announce as children for brussel sprouts, the hate we claim for paying taxes, the hate we have for those who abuse children are all similar but not identical.  The hate the Bible speaks of when hating enemies and hating our parents cannot be the same, can it?

Here’s the thing.  Hebrew (and many ancient languages) does not have within itself the ability to express “more than” or “less than”.  So, when presenting two or more things that are in opposition to one another it must do so in complete opposition rather than in a gradient.  So, in English you can say, “I like the Vikings more than the Cowboys”, but in Hebrew you would have to say, “I love the Vikings, I hate the Cowboys.”  Wow, what a difference!  So, in that context when Jesus is talking about hating parents and siblings, he’s really saying that you can’t put following Jesus as being less important than our other relationships – not that we have to hate our parents in order to follow him.   I mean, how would we understand Jesus’ words on the cross to John, “Here is your mother” if that were the case?

So, love the sinner, hate the sin.  How would we understand that phrase differently if we were to understand from a Hebraic perspective (recognizing of course that it was not spoken in Hebrew)?  Love the sinner more than you love their sin.  All of a sudden in that context it comes to have this feeling that our love is supposed to be greater than any sin of the other.  Love > Sin.

And isn’t that the message of the Bible?