Christians are not afraid of loving sinners as some claim but they love them while at the same time despising the sin. What progress is there in exclusively loving those who are apparently free from sin? Jesus while on earth converted sinners and was not willing to appease the appetite of those who believed they had a one-way street to heaven, or so they thought. He set out new guidelines and he emphasized that God loved everyone; at the same time, he was not against what happened in the past but wanted to clarify a few of the rules for righteous living the prophets had set down.
The truth is many believers and nonbelievers have not gotten the message straight.
Why they believe they are unloved because they are sinners has more to do with a misunderstanding of the ways of Christianity than any actual dislike. Possibly they feel guilty because of the sins they’ve committed and rather than admit their own mistakes they find reasons to blame their misery on others who may or may not harbor any ill will against them.
Everyone on earth sins in some minor or major way and the Bible teaches “judge not be ye judged.” In other words, the way in which you judge others is the way you will be judged. If you’re harsh and unsympathetic in your dealings with others, others will judge you likewise; if you’re generous and loving toward others, others will be generous and loving toward you. But wait, you ask, isn’t God the one who judges sinners? What has this to do with how people treat people?
Catholic Christians believe the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, works directly through people to carry out the will of God and to get his message across to those most in need. In other words, a true Christian does not sit back and count his blessings and contemplate how lucky they are to be on the list of those on their way to heaven, they’re out doing the will of the Lord wherever their special expertise is needed. And where else is there a crying need but among the sinners? Yes, in some cases it takes a saintly person or one working toward that goal, to go out among the street people who are creating havoc, those in prison for having done so, those out killing and maiming and not completely succumb to the confusion.
Therefore, to misjudge all Christians and say they despise sinner is a misrepresentation of Christianity and of the word of God at large. Of course, there is a real fear of dealing with those who see sin as a delightful way of life. The fainthearted may not be ready to lay down their life for their beliefs and instead, they may shun those who they fear. There’s nothing wrong with that since each person believes according to what is most important to them. Probable reasons why sinners perceive they are disliked by Christians are limitless: Among the most likely is fear of the unknown; dislike of Christians; an unwillingness to ask questions of Christians; misunderstanding; lack of religious education or all of the above plus many other reasons.
Fear of the unknown
Comfort is dear to most people and when dealing with the unknown there’s always a possibility that something or someone will come up to upset the apple cart. Rather than taking this chance, many sinners will let worry and stress take over their life. They may improvise their thinking to such low levels they get equally low results. While they’re not happy in their present lifestyle they get a certain amount of comfort from routine, yes even if this routine is oftentimes questionable. And if the discomfort of not knowing is too painful they may fall into denial. There is no God, they shout, and since that is so there’s no fear of afterlife punishment.
Dislike of Christians
Christians make them uncomfortable and anything or anyone that makes people uncomfortable they tend to shun. And sometimes there’s a good reason for this dislike, but not always. Not having been a Christian themselves they may mislabel people. They believe that everyone believing in Christianity is pushy religion peddlers and have no understanding of those who believe otherwise.
No one likes to have people in their face telling them outright that they’re going to hell if they don’t change their ways. They’ve been suspicious of that themselves and to hear it from this crummy Christians makes it all the more painful.
But to reiterate, Christianity was built on the love of God for his children on earth and his goal is to get them all to heaven. Christianity is one of the ways he approached the problem; he came to earth in the form of a man, Jesus, to show the way. There are other ways since he has many mansions. One way of interpreting that is to compare these other mansions to other religions that honor God.
Unwillingness to ask questions of Christians
For some reason, many people find it easier to condemn before knowing all the facts. An easier way would be when questions arise to search for the answers. This could prevent bed feelings and could prove fruitful if the search for the truth simply asking a person about their religion or their beliefs. It certainly would be heartening to find out that the supposedly saintly one denies any such claim and is willing to discuss their sins and how they manage to deal with them daily.
Lack of religious education
A person can’t be held responsible for what they don’t know. But few are blind to the destructive nature of sin. They learned this the hard way through trial and error, unfortunately. Many now in prison for life with agree with that statement. An easier way would be some type of religious education during the growing up process, and if not then at least when the lack of knowledge is known.
Finally, the whole question of why there’s so much bickering among sinners and non-sinners (even if that situation doesn’t exist on earth) is quite unnecessary. When a person realizes that they are a creation of God and that they are loved and that they are supposed to love themselves as their neighbor they will be most forgiving of the sins of others. Why is that so? They’ve been there and they’ve done that and now they now know better. But being forgiving of others is far from being agreeable to their sins. Therefore they can love them as God insists they do while at the same time despising the sin.
