I have heard people say that we, Christians, are supposed to love everybody. However, in the same breath, almost, they complain that Christianity is a religion that hates people different from themselves. Perhaps this is because they want us to love everyone (their definition of it) and still have an excuse not to accept it.
So what does this have to do with Psalm 15? In this psalm, it says that a person who can come before the presence of God finds a vile man contemptible. This isn't the only place something like this is said, so what is the meaning? Are we to love or have contempt? The answer is yes. We should find the actions of a vile person (flagrant sinners, NLT) contemptible. Yet, we should love them and want to see them changed. God does. God finds the actions of some people so bad it says it angers him*. Yet, it is while we are sinners that the Bible says in Romans that Jesus died for us. The contrast here is key. We should never look up to those who are evil because we may find ourselves pattering our lives after them.
*Side note, we need to be really careful in the anger area we can't keep it, and an additional side note neither does God.
Photo by Jennifer Uppendahl on Unsplash
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