A couple years ago my pastor preached a message that he called the Stunted Gospel. I’m sure I have talked about it before, because it really stuck with me. Pretend like the photo below represents the Gospel, or even the Kingdom of God. Sometimes we can be focused on just one part of it, and it is beautiful and right and good… but it’s not complete. If we can back up a little, zoom out just a tad, we will get more of the picture. And, if we allow God to remove our little lens, or frame, we might just be able to take it all in and it’s even more beautiful and right and good.
This is something we all do. I won’t even try to deny that I see most things through a lens of truth and justice, and when I don’t see those things being pursued, I can get riled up. But I’m not alone, most believers tend to leave their frames focused on love and peace. I know that sounds cheesy, but you know it’s true! “Can’t we all just be friends?” “We have to love people into the kingdom.” “We can’t focus on their sin, we have to meet them where they’re at.” Some of those things are 100% true, but they aren’t 100% of the truth.
We must reconcile some of our favorite sayings with the Word of God. What about James 4? “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” What does that mean? We all know Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes. Yeah, he hung out with sinners, but he did not leave them in their sin. He confronted it. Sometimes it was uncomfortable, but he did it out of love. He befriended them but didn’t condone or accept their sin.
What about 2 Corinthians 5:11 “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” Yes, the Bible says it is the “kindness of God that draws men unto him.” We can love them into the kingdom, but is it possible that loving them means warning them? John MacArther says it is “a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God.” And RC Sproul says, “God is angry every day against the wicked, and justly so… we want so much to win people to Christ, that we’ll do everything we can to hide from them the reality of the wrath of God.” Tolerance is not a form of love.
And yeah, we don’t need to focus on peoples’ sin and God does meet us where we are at. But I would argue that we also shouldn’t ignore it. The Word tells us to “stand firm” (Galations 5:1), “speak truth from your heart” (Psalms 15:2), “warn the wicked, speak out to dissuade them from their ways (Ezekiel 33:8), to “reason frankly with your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:17), “hate evil and maintain justice” (Proverbs 8:13), “reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
At our church it is often said that it is “not our job to convict people.” I don’t disagree. But the Bible does make it clear that it is our job to speak truth to the lies. To expose evil. Even to hate evil. When we look at how many times the Bible says that God hates the wicked or the evildoer, it can get uncomfortable. It’s interesting though, I haven’t found anywhere where it says that He hates the sinner. Is it possible that sinners and evildoers are different? The Hebrew word for sin speaks of falling short or missing the mark. We were all sinners. But when I study the word evildoer in the Bible, it speaks of a different kind of sin or a different level of evil; those who “stand in opposition to God’s law and will.” These are people who I believe know they are in rebellion towards God and not only continue down that road but try to deceive and bring as many others down with them as they can. Someone who hasn’t found God yet is a sinner, like we all were. But what about someone who worships the devil? Who is actively trying to deceive our children and steal them away from God? Who loves violence (Psalms 11:5)? Who is bloodthirsty and deceitful (Psalm 5:6)? God abhors, detests, and despises the wicked and their ways, those who outright stand boldly in opposition to Him.
The beautiful thing is that he also provided a way out. He loves those who pursue righteousness, and the gift of redemption is available to the worst of the worst. But until they turn from their wicked ways and repent, there is this mysterious balance of the fact that God loves them enough to save them, while hating their wickedness.
Back to my main point. The truth is tricky. When George Floyd died, we were all shocked. Months (or years) later we found out from the coroner’s report that he died of a drug overdose that killed his heart and not from asphyxiation. So, while the officer’s actions were unbecoming, he wasn’t a murderer like the world wanted us to believe. But America went crazy pursuing their idea of justice based on their version of the truth. And half the church went right along with them, because it sounded right.
I see it time and time again. The devil is so tricky, so clever. He offers up a nugget of truth. It’s almost like he sacrifices just a little bit of ground, offers the church something that resembles truth. Maybe it even is true. Like this recent post that went viral from a pastor that didn’t like the way Christians were responding to the Drag Queen depiction of the Lord’s Supper at the Olympics. Everything he said was true. But it didn’t set right with me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was his first line, “I’m a pastor and I have something to say.” Not very Paul like. Secondly, most people that I have heard addressing drag queen thing weren’t spewing hate at unbelievers. Like me, they were angry about the evil we see going on in the world, but I think we are in good company, since the God of the universe is also angry. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t that anything he said was inherently wrong, it just wasn’t complete. So back to the devil. He does this thing, where he gives us just a little ground to make us feel like we are winning, or like we nailed it, but really, it’s a sneaky way of preventing us from seeing, pursuing and sharing the WHOLE truth. The whole gospel.
In Ezekiel 33, God speaks to Ezekiel about being a watchman and is very clear about the responsibility. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.” Woah! Do you feel the gravity of that calling? If we know the truth but don’t warn people of God’s coming judgement, we are responsible, their blood is on our hands. That is heavy.
It is our job to love people, to speak the whole truth, to warn the wicked, and to guide people towards freedom from their sin. When I see one of my kids struggling in an area, it’s uncomfortable to address that issue, but I love them, so I do. It’s not fun for me, I don’t enjoy it, but my love for them prevents me from pretending nothing is wrong. If we truly love the world, we cannot condone, tolerate, or accept sin. Even John the Baptist called out Herod for his adultery. Herod wasn’t even a believer; and he was a KING! The world may not believe in our God, but they will still be held to His standard, and I believe our responsibility is to warn them and that that is a part of loving them.
To all my friends, who shared the post from the pastor… don’t get me wrong, I don’t disagree with anything he said, it is obvious he has a heart for the lost. And I hear your heart! But I would contend that there’s a difference between the lost and the wicked, or the depraved. The God of the Bible wiped out entire cities and nations for their wickedness. I think we’re missing part of God’s character when we tolerate sin in the world around us the way that we do.
The enemy keeps the church immobilized with partial truths. Don’t let him. Once you have settled on a truth regarding an issue facing our culture, don’t stop. Keep seeking God and pray through it. Is there another truth He wants to speak to that lie? Don’t be tricked by half truths. We want to be sharers of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Wander More 