Tough love

Jesus says in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Paul later tells us in 2 Corinthians to "come out from them and be separate." Contradiction? Maybe not.

In today’s churches we see two extremes of relating to the world that correspond with the ideas of these two verses. On one hand, we have churches that take outreach and missions as their main focus, offering Christian alternatives to draw people away from worldly vices (with some of these churches sadly slipping into imitation of worldly ethics and practices). On the other hand, we have groups like the Old Order Mennonites and Amish, who practice withdrawal from the world and witness primarily through the example of their lifestyles. Are these two approaches mutually exclusive?

If we take a look at the example of how Jesus related to the world, we see that he found a middle point between the two approaches. Certainly, he spent time with the people considered by the Pharisees to be "sinners." When he was criticized for doing this, he replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matthew 9:12). One of Jesus’ primary intentions when he came to Earth was to spend time with the unrighteous in order to guide them to the truth. If God didn’t care how we lived our lives, he wouldn’t have had to send Jesus to take the punishment for our sins.

An illustration frequently used in this type of discussion is Jesus’ response to the woman who was caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). Under Old Testament law, such a sin was punishable by stoning, but Jesus taught a different way. "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," he replied. All of her accusers walked away. Only Jesus had the right to stone that woman, but he chose not to. Rather, he had mercy on her, saying, "Then neither do I condemn you."

However, Jesus did not stop there.

He did not tell her that her sin was OK, that he didn’t mind her adultery, or that he would give her special admission into the kingdom of God even if she continued in her ways. He commanded her to "go now and leave your life of sin." In this act we find no indications that Jesus simply accepted this woman’s behavior; he found it to be unacceptable and demanded that she change her ways immediately.

Jesus wasn’t being discriminatory or hateful when he told the woman she must alter her lifestyle. In his intolerance of her behavior, Jesus displayed great love toward her. He knew that her sin would destroy her unless he showed her how to escape it. Had he simply tolerated her actions and stood back to watch her eventual destruction, this most definitely would not have been love.

We encounter many people, even fellow Christians, who have fallen into lives of sin. If we just stand to the side in quiet tolerance, waiting for them to emulate our purity from afar, chances are they will just continue in sin. Jude instructs us not only to "be merciful to those who doubt," but also to "snatch others from the fire and save them." This requires some tough love and honest accountability, but it is one of the best ways to show the Christian love that Jesus embodied.