May 8, 2009 10:40 AM
Strawberries
Well, this morning, I surveyed the strawberry patch ("a man out standing in his field") and the little jewels could be seen here and there like glittering red stop lights among the dark greenscape. I had no trouble popping three in my mouth within a minute, but I can't imagine more than two or three families would be able to fill a pint basket tomorrow morning, if that, so picker beware. Still, there are a lot of fat light green berries, so when they go there will be strawberries big time out in that field, probably sometime between Monday and Wednesday of next week.
Normally, I don't give such attentive updates, but there's something about having a whole field of strawberries right outside your window. Strawberries, for me, stand somewhere very near icy cold scoops of watermelon in the pantheon of great fruits. At restaurants, when I get wheat toast, I always lunge for the strawberry preserve tin. I also think that u-pick is a pretty good family bargain. You can go to theme park and spend $80 to get in and $10 for a hamburger, or you can spend $3.50 on a pint of strawberries here, and get a Lord Sandwich meal for $8.95. Let it not be said there is no bargain family destination anymore. It's here. It's Riley's Farm.
"Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner"
The life of a modern believer is burdened not just with the weight of carrying a cross, but with all the clichés that are wrapped around it, lead-apron style, by well-meaning, but extra-biblical teaching. Think about this one--hate the sin, love the sinner. Let's try looking for that exact phrase in the Bible. Nope. Zero hits. How about just "hate" and "sin." NIV comes up with 10 references there, fairly represented as follows:
Exodus 20:5 "...I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.."
Psalm 36:1-2 "...the wicked...he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin..."
Hosea 9:15 "..Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious..."
Romans 12:9 "..Hate what is evil; cling to what is good..."
Malachi 1:3 "...And I hated Esau.."
Hmmm. In Hosea, it speaks of a God who doesn't love the wicked, but actually hates them--for their wicked deeds. In Romans, it speaks of hating evil, and clinging to good, but it doesn't speak of the human beings who embody those realities. Of course, in Mathew 5:44, Jesus says "Love your enemies" and in Luke 6:27 "do good to those who hate you," but that same Jesus said to treat unrepentant believers as "a heathen man," (Matthew 18:17). That same Jesus turned to one of his closest disciples, Peter, and said "Get thee behind me, Satan," (Matthew 16:23). That same Jesus turns to unbelievers and proclaims them to be children of the devil. (John 8:44).
If we really are to "love our enemies," then "hate the sin, love the sinner" is not a terribly unfair summarization of scripture, but, clearly, Jesus "loves" sinners by being willing to discipline them (Matthew 18, 1 Cor. 5), by telling them the harshest of truths (actually calling them the children of the devil), and by clearly indicating that the devil is capable of acting through even those who call themselves His Disciples. Even when he pardoned the adulterous woman, he told her to "go and sin no more."
That is tough love, if ever it existed.
A more fair version of the saying would be "hate the sin, extend scorching tough love to the sinner."
I don't blame heathens and New Agers for preaching a Jesus without spine, or a mind, or a sense of justice. Heathens like Ghandi only take that part of the word that suits them, but, Pastors, if you aren't teaching the full reality of scripture to your flock, if you aren't teaching them to "hunger and thirst after righteousness," you are coveting church growth over truth, and the penalty will be greater than you can imagine.
More of the Farm Journal -- May 7, 2009
