It is foolish to ignore or tolerate something we know is wrong, especially in someone we truly love and care for, because doing so puts them in danger. Sincere loving requires action, and that action is not to bury our heads in the sand because we don’t want to rock the boat of our beloved.
Would we allow our toddler to continue peddling down a busy highway on a tricycle, or would we run out to snatch them back before they are literally killed? Would we watch our ten year old put a loaded gun in his or her pocket, and smile as he goes out of the door? Would we allow our teenager to pump himself or herself full of drugs just because he or she thinks it’s fun? Would we allow our spouse to jump into bed with a co-worker without a word of disapproval?
Loving someone presents many problems. One of the biggest is that even if we love a person, we don’t always love what they do. This is going to be true with parents and children, with spouses, with friends and co-workers. There will be times when we know our loved ones are going in a wrong direction. There will be times when we recognize that they are actually sinning, a word that our society often choses to overlook or bypass. Do we simply ignore it, or even cast them aside when they do wrong?
Or will we do our best to compassionately open their eyes in a Christ-like way?
Confronting sin in those we love (and in ourselves) requires courage–a compassionate courage which expresses to our loved one that we believe he/she may be walking in enemy territory, and that we want to help in any way we can. Sometimes only a mention will prompt a person to think about his or her behavior. Other times the ears we hope will hear us may seem closed.
If we do not care enough to act, if we do not care enough to attempt to help unravel risky behavior in those we love, then we do not truthfully care about them. Yes, we are just one person, but many, many people have given up sin and even become saints by the efforts of just one person. Maybe because of a mother, a father, a wife, a husband, a sister, a brother, or a friend.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.–Matthew 9: 11-13
Translating a World on the Edge 