CLAIM:
Jesus loved and accepted everybody. Who are we to judge or tell anybody what they can or cannot do?
REBUTTAL:
Especially evident in the “Christian” arguments for universal and undefined gender perspectives is that the “Christian faith” and the “Christian religion” can be two different things.
The Christian faith refers to the supernatural occurrence that changes a heart opposed to God (Genesis 8:21; Romans 8:7) into a heart of trust and happy obedience to God’s will (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 11:1). It leads with surrender to God and manifests itself in God pleasing actions.
The Christian religion is a more philosophical approach antithetical to the Christian faith. It leads with performance and then calls it faith. It highlights favored Christian lifestyle attributes (i.e., love, charity, compassion, etc.) and ignores fundamental realities (i.e., evil inclination, sin, apostasy).
We have some examples of this in Scripture. In Revelation 3:17, we learn about the so-called Christians who lived in Laodicea:
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17, NIV)
It was a religious perspective on life that measured things not by God’s standards but by the world’s standards. It saw wealth, success, and worldly contentment alone as the measures of God’s acceptance. Surely, wealth, success, and contentment are blessings from God, but not the substance of being God’s children.
We saw this in the religious leaders at the time of Christ. Jesus referred to them as whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27). They also emphasized performance above faith and surrender to God (Luke 18:9-14).
The Scriptures speak about people thinking they are children or followers of God, but were creating a religion that sounded godly but essentially made them disciples of Satan (John 8:37-47). The Apostle Paul warned Timothy that even within the church, people will find themselves tempted to follow leaders who will tell them what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
The phrase “Jesus loved and accepted everybody” is ambiguous. We certainly understand that Jesus displayed universal love by his death on the cross (John 3:16), but he did not accept everything everybody did (Matthew 16:23; John 2:13-17). How does this view contend with the statements of Jesus regarding the unrepentant Galilean towns (Matthew 11:20-24) or with the unrepentant sinner in the church (Matthew 18:17)? If “Jesus loved and accepted everybody,” what are we to make of Paul’s words about the unrepentant (Romans 2:5)?
Those who practice a “Christian Religion” like to pick and choose, most often outside of context, words from Scripture to create the religion that they like, even if it is wrong.
Those who seek to dodge challenges to their lifestyle choices frequently invoke these words of Christ:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, NIV)
The problem is that they do not look at the whole context. Consider the entire section:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5, NIV)
These words are not condemning judgments made about issues and people, but about making self-righteous judgments. Judgment begins in our own hearts, where, like the Apostle Paul, a candid evaluation results in recognizing “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:24, NIV)
God’s people are called upon to make judgments and avoid people who are a bad influence (1 Corinthians 5:11). We are to be on guard against people who cause divisions (Romans 16:17-18). How do you do that without making judgments?
We are to imitate Christ’s love (John 13:34-35; 1 Peter 2:21). Such imitating does not mean accepting any behavior as acceptable. Christ’s love was not like that, nor should our love be that way.
Imitating Christ’s love means recognizing that sinful behavior is not only contrary to God’s will but also leads one away from God into a false sense of religious comfort. Consider what Paul told Timothy:
“Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26, NIV)
Our goal in making judgments is, first and foremost, out of concern for the eternal soul of anyone who sins, starting with ourselves (Proverbs 4:23; 1 Corinthians 9:27). That is how we remember not to judge self-righteously. We realize our own vulnerability to sin.
Our true imitation of Christ is the sacrificial approach to correcting error, which endangers the soul. That means our approach to anyone who has chosen to do contrary to God’s will is to be “with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). We want our gentleness to be evident to all (Philippians 4:5).
Those who choose to live by a Christian religion have created a religion that appeals to their itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3). It is like the woman who spoke at a public forum against allowing the purchase of alcohol on Sundays. When a minister pointed out that there is no religious objection to buying alcohol on Sundays, the woman waved a condemning finger to scold the minister about the evils of drinking. The pastor replied, “Ma’am, Jesus even turned water into wine.” Her retort: “That’s the one thing I didn’t like about him.”
When people create their own religion, they often attract people around them who feel like they do. They are reinforced in their notions of what it means to be non-judging, accepting, and loving. They have stepped away from the full truth of Scripture, which forms the foundation of Christian faith, and opt for carefully selected Bible passages to feel good in their new religion. That is why correction takes great patience and careful instruction. God makes the judgment. We are simply his messengers.
