Reacting to Sin

One of the great dangers that Christians have is their reaction to sin.  As Christians, we have been trained to recognize and know what is good... and to see and know what is evil, to want to avoid it.  This, in and of itself is good... but as we are still in this life, we still deal with our old sinful flesh, and our old sinful flesh loves to twist our reactions to sin.

When your neighbor sins -- how do you react? 

If your neighbor sins, should that justify a lack of love on our part towards them?
If your neighbor sins, should your frustrations let you act cruelly or harshly towards them?
If your neighbor sins, should you loudly bad mouth them, giving no heed to the fact that we are called upon to protect our neighbor's reputation... even if they are wrong?

I think perhaps it would be better if instead of anger (which will not remain righteous anger in a sinful man) or frustration, it might be good to try to cultivate a different reaction.

Sorrow.

We all remember Jesus turning over the money changers' tables in the temple, we remember John calling out the brood of vipers.  But those are the exceptions to the normal reaction we see to sin in the Gospels.

Lo, they are like sheep without a shepherd.
Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who stone the prophets and kill those who are sent to you...
He had compassion upon her.

We see our Lord weep more often than we see Him yell.

We see our Lord remain silent and take in abuse and slander... even when He could have yelled back and been "right".

We hear Him call out for them to be forgiven... even before they repent, even while they are crucifying Him.

Yes, zeal for His father's house consumed Him, but He is also the Man of Sorrows.  And it is in taking up that sorrow that He wins redemption for us all.  Mayhaps we should seek to emulate that more often.