Exposing Sin

How do you get around people saying, "Who are you to judge?" when discussing sinful behavior? This is something that comes up in conversation just as much as the idea of tolerance. Christians are seen as judgmental and intolerant. We are considered judgmental when we label someone's actions or attitude as sin, and we are considered intolerant when we claim that Jesus is the only way.

There is really no way around the argument of intolerance other than maybe clarifying what "tolerance" means. Dictionary.com defines tolerance as "The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others." The assumption is that people will disagree. Tolerance means that we recognize people will disagree and can still "tolerate" one another. Tolerance does not mean that you can't have any opinions of your own. I've talked about this before regarding Spongebob and homosexuality.

But what about the charge that Christians are judgmental? How is anyone to defend against such an accusation? There are so many angles that can be taken for a Christian to argue here. I think one of the answers is in Romans 7:7-13. In this passage Paul explains the purpose of the law. It reveals sin. By pointing sinners to the law, the judgment comes from God rather than man. The best approach is letting someone condemn themselves. Rather than telling someone that they have broken the commandments of God, allow them to come to that conclusion on their own. Check out "The Good Test" from Ray Comfort's ministry, LivingWaters. It perfectly illustrates my point.