I believe one of the critical issues that the church faces is how to not shrink from naming sin and still be the bearers of grace. Christians have tended to deal with the subject of sin in one of two ways: either by being silent or by being judgmental. Either we skip over the uncomfortable bits and wind up conveying a gospel of warm feelings and cheap, sentimental grace or we behave and speak in ways that appear condescending, judgmental and critical.
–Rebecca Pippert
What an interesting (and accurate) statement. We decide we shouldn’t judge so we remain silent. Or we decide we must judge and that we must do so with the hammer condemnation. And so there is no grace to help a person be told the truth so that he will be offered the chance to escape his sin, or there is no grace to allow the person to understand the sweet offer of forgiveness even in the midst of terrible mistakes. That wasn’t the way of Jesus.
Jesus held a strong view of sin and a strong view of grace. He was not silent about sin, but he spoke about the availability of forgiveness in a loving way. The Samaritan woman at the well was treated with dignity and love, even during Jesus pointing out her relationship sin. He told people over and over to Repent, and to sin no more (judging sin), but people still loved being around Him (because He offered love and grace).
When will we learn to do the same? We don’t want to offer cheap grace, nor should we want to condemn. We should love all people to the point of wanting them to know Jesus!