How does love face evil?

Suppose I meet a profane person who is bad-mouthing people that I know don't deserve it. Suppose he slanders both God and man without hesitation. Is it loving for me to go along with him and give creedance to what he says so that he would feel accepted. I am being a good and kind person if I were in some way to bless him just to show him I am loving? What if the people he were slandering we right in front of me? Would it be loving to agree with him? No, it would be unloving toward the innocent who were being slandered.


Yet I hear this approach at times promoted within the church. More and more, in certain circles, the way to witness is to show that we are loving by accepting the ungodly as they are. I hear it preached that God accepts everyone just the way they are. Therefore, we are not to warn them of their error not oppose what they stand for. Rather, we are just to love them. We are told that we are being unloving and intolerant if we talk about the coming judgment of God or of the need to repent and turn from evil.

I believe there is a certain "unbelief" that is rearing its ugly head with Christian circles. It is the error of liberal thinkers who deny the truth of Christ and teach only partial truth. I propose the following is the biblical view of responding to evil:

The unbelieving world is under the wrath of God. For God has loved the world and been gracious to all people in abundance. Yet God is rebelled against. He is hated, spurned and ignored. His rightful authority over his creatures is rejected. Man erects idols of his own making and replaces the true God with them. The idols may be gods of his own making after his own image. His idol may be himself.

Yet our God is loving. He has so loved the world by sending His only Son to make atonement for sin. And he has commanded all people to repent and believe the good news. The message is that the worst of sinners are being freely forgiven in Christ, adopted into God's family as his children and given the gift of eternal life. This gift is offered by God graciously without regard to race, gender, age, circumstance. It is offered to whoever will believe. But the gift is not received if it is rejected. What else is left if the blood of Christ is treated as an unholy thing? If the Spirit of grace is rejected?

God is not accepting people as they are! He is offering His love, he is called for reconciliation with His enemies. In this way he is being loving. He is holding out Christ in love to unloving sinners who are his enemies. But he is not accepting them as they are. He is not winking at our evil. His wrath burns against our evil yet he calls for us to receive the free gift of forgiveness and love by faith.

Likewise, we are not to share Christ by saying God loves you without any warning of the consequences are rejecting that love. We can not leave out the truth that Christ died for sin to save us from hell and eternal condemnation. The good news is indeed good news. But the good news doesn't make sense without the context of the bad news. What good is forgiveness if there is nothing to be forgiven of? What is so good about the good news of salvation if there is nothing to be saved from? What is so awesome about being adopted into God's family if we are already God's children regardless of whether we believe or not?

It is a false dichotomy that we can not be both loving and oppose evil. We are being loving by opposing evil. We are being loving by offering the full gospel that Christ died for your sins to save you from eternal condemnation.

Let the light of his love shine!

John