...between sin and the sinner. If there weren't, how could God love one and hate the other. Today I was reading Spurgeon's Morning & Evening and he wrote about the ferocity of Christ's hatred for sin. This quote in particular caught my attention:
"As warm as is His love to sinners, so hot is His hatred of sin; as perfect as is His righteousness, so complete shall be the destruction of every form of wickedness."
"As warm as is His love to sinners..." This phrase bears such a fantastic paradox. When I think of God's wrath, particularly in the Old Testament, I am often overwhelmed with the more blunt aspects of justice in the Kingdom of God. And yet, Christ demonstrated this while we were still sinners...subjects of such wrath...by dying for us. Some question His divinity but keep in mind that this man willing allowed himself to be placed on the cross to make atonement for us. Oh, the ferocity of His love for us.
Yesterday I read some particularly hurtful, spiteful things in a discussion forum. I was perplexed at the shear hatred being expressed by one particular individual and I was even more so discouraged because it was being expressed by someone who allowed us to infer that he followed Christ. This man wasn't expressing hatred of sin, he was expressing hatred of people. Another of Spurgeon's quotes about Jesus today seemed an appropriate antidote:
"He hated it (sin) in others; none the less fervently because He showed His hate oftener in tears of pity than in words of rebuke" Oh yes, Jesus did rebuke. But he often wept because of the captivity he found in all of us. We were, after all, slaves to sin and he mourned that slavery when he saw it expressed. This reminds me that when I see such depravity in others, I must bear in mind a few things.
1 - But for the grace of God, that same depravity can rule me.
2 - The heart of God for all of us is filled with more love than I could ever understand.
So, when I see the world going the way it goes when we don't seek His Kingdom, I will cling to these truths. Jesus loves me...and others...this, I know.
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Here is an idea I have been trying on for a few years: religion encapsulates culture. And the religions people believe are often versions localized to their culture. I'm sure this is old news to everyone else.
For a general example I have heard that some rural parts of the Muslim world practice rituals like passing under a Quran for luck before a voyage - though I understand this lacks scriptural basis. These rituals may or may not be Islam, but they're part of the local religion whatever you call it.
Belief in (and fear/sanction of) juju is such a key part of Ghanaian Christianity that an educated and rational Ghanaian Christian friend told me he would see no reason to believe in God if he doubted the reality of juju. Many taxis have the motto "Who Jah bless, no one curse" (in other words, belief in God is a surefire protection from juju curses). It's a key concept there. By contrast, American Christianity seems mostly uninvolved with juju one way or the other.
To be clear, I'm not saying that makes the Americans more correct. I mention it because we tend to think that our beliefs are universal, and things are sort of the same everywhere. I find that we are much more likely than Ghanaians to emphasize hate and politics in a religious context. Not just in an incidental, personal way. We often mix that stuff up so thoroughly with our practiced religions - whatever you want to call them - that the one can't be challenged without somehow challenging the basis of the other.
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