Adam’s words slashed through the room like a grunge band at a polka fest, his ugly phrase hanging in the air like diesel exhaust. He had just used an inappropriate term to describe homosexuals.
I did find Adam’s word choice to be offensive. Yet it somehow seemed less offensive because, well, he was talking about sinners. So it was okay, right? Wait! Time out!
My friend Pam boldly challenges Christians who use disparaging names for other people. She pointedly asks, “Since when did it become okay to insult a mission field?” And she also likes to ask, “How do you think Jesus would handle this?”
How would Jesus handle this?
A group of Jerusalem’s religious leaders once brought a woman caught in sexual sin to Jesus (John 8:3-5). But they weren’t concerned about her spiritual well-being. They just wanted to trick Jesus, and maybe to kill her. Jesus wouldn’t have any of it. He didn’t view the woman as a target for derision and judgment-He saw her need. So He told her accusers, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (v.7). Then Jesus said to the woman, “Go and sin no more” (v.11).
When we as believers in Jesus resort to name-calling, we lose our basis for representing Him to that world. They aren’t likely to see Him through the smog of our flippant, self-righteous, and even hate-laced language.
God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). And we aren’t helping “certain” sinners come to Jesus when we call them names instead of sharing the good news of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ with them. It’s a lesson we need to keep in mind when dealing with those who, after all, are part of our mission field.
More:
• Matthew 7:1-5
• Romans 2:1-4
• James 4:11-12
Next:
Do you quickly judge other people whose struggles and temptations are different from yours? How did Jesus demonstrate the idea of loving the sinner and hating the sin?
mstigall on July 6, 2009 at 6:45 am
What a great reminder, I myself have been guilty of using a derogatory name to reference someone that has offended or upset me. However, I have no excuses, God has shown me that this is a sinful attitude and heart condition that needs to be healed by Him.
Thank you for sharing, very good!!
tom felten on July 6, 2009 at 8:47 am
mstigall, thanks for your honest comments. We all struggle in this area. It’s humbling to realize that there are no tiers at the foot of the cross, for we bow before Jesus on level ground (Galatians 3:28).
mikan14 on July 6, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I know I’m not exempted with this one, because I sometimes create names for them (accidentally or not..maybe sometimes because of the rush of feelings). But either way, I should never do that. I am also a sinner saved by grace, and because Jesus saved me, this is the privilege to make Him known among all others. Everybody needs Jesus.
tealwonder94 on July 6, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I agree with most of this post — we shouldn’t use derogatory language for groups of people with whom we disagree and may even view as in blatant and unrepenting sinful behavior. I do want to make one more statement that addresses what I view as a harmful misconception.
Just because someone IS a homosexual individual does not mean they are sinning. It simply means they are sexually attracted to members of the same sex. Heterosexual individuals are attracted to members of the opposite sex and do not sin in just feeling that initial attraction. It’s what a person DOES with that attraction — or following it — that creates sin. Lust, adultry — all sinful. A homosexual person is the same way — once he/she engages in this same sinful thought or action — then he/she is sinning. (And I won’t even go into whether committed homosexual relationships are sinful — this is probably not the place for it.) It is possible to be a homosexual Christian.
And regardless of one’s view on this, the hateful speech addressed to the community of gay and lesbian individuals is one reason many WON’T be led to Christ and repentence because they see themselves as never being able to be a Christian.
orly1777 on July 6, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Hello. There are several passages that forbid homosexuality in the Bible. In I Corinthians 6 it is clear that homosexuality is a sinful behavior. Thanks.