“Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner”

The Bible Doesn’t Say… “Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner”

Reclaiming Grace Without Footnotes

By Pastor Tony Beyer
📖 Luke 7:36–50; Romans 5:6–8 (CEB)

Meta Story: A Silent Table

Not long ago, a friend told me about a dinner with extended family. One guest brought their trans partner, and the moment they entered, the table fell painfully silent. Everyone polite. Everyone frozen. That’s a modern-day version of Simon’s table in Luke 7. It got me wondering: What if someone had broken the silence—not with judgment, but with welcome?

A Scene We Often Miss: The Woman With No Name

Let’s begin not with the phrase, but with the story.

Jesus is reclining at the table of a Pharisee named Simon. The house smells of roasted lamb, sweet bread, and—suddenly—expensive perfume. A woman enters. She’s unnamed, voiceless in the text, but the air shifts. Everyone knows her story. Or thinks they do.

She weeps. She kneels. She anoints. And Jesus receives.

No edits. No caveats. Just love in action.

And Jesus tells a parable: Two people, two debts—both forgiven. The one forgiven more, loves more.

Then, turning not to the room but to her, Jesus says:

“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7:50, CEB)

The Phrase That’s Not There

“Love the sinner, hate the sin.”
You won’t find that in your Bible.

It’s a borrowed line—from Augustine, later echoed by Gandhi. Well-meaning, maybe. But in practice? It often reduces people to footnotes and wounds dressed as wisdom. Jesus never says it to this woman—or to anyone.

Instead, what she receives is not love with conditions, but grace in a body. A full-bodied welcome, no disclaimers attached.

When Grace Gets Embodied

Picture the scene again. Who’s watching from the edges? Maybe a servant. A quiet guest. Someone aching to be seen.

Imagine the whispered comments:
“She’s so shameless…”

And Jesus responding:

“Exactly. Grace is shameless. It pours itself out.”

When we listen from the margins, the story gets bigger—and so does God.

When Listening Changes Everything: Megan Phelps-Roper

Take Megan Phelps-Roper. Raised in the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, she was once a mouthpiece for hate. But then, a stranger online didn’t fight fire with fire. They asked questions. Real ones. They built relationship.

One thread unraveled—and she left. Her worldview transformed not because someone corrected her, but because someone listened.

Romans 5: Love Without Edits

Paul puts it plainly:

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, CEB)

Not after you’ve cleaned up. Not when you’ve changed. While. That’s grace.

God’s love isn’t a transaction. It’s not: “Fix yourself, then come close.” It’s: You are already beloved. Come in.

So What Should the Church Say?

If the woman in Luke 7 rewrote that tired phrase, maybe it would sound like:

• “Love—and leave the judging to Jesus.”
  
  

• “See the person. Drop the caveat.”
  
  

• “Don’t wrap judgment in velvet. It still wounds.”
  
  

Because grace doesn’t qualify people. It welcomes them.

Your Table This Week: A Practice of Love Without Footnotes

Let’s live it out. Try one of these:

🕯️ Light a candle—for all the times you needed grace first
📝 Pray with a phrase you want to release—maybe one that hurt you, or one you’ve said
🌿 Do one act of love this week, with no disclaimers attached

Final Word

The Bible never says “hate the sin, love the sinner.”
But it does say:

• 🪨 “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”
  
  

• 🧥 “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female…”
  
  

• 🌿 “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  
  

And maybe—just maybe—if we kept writing Scripture with our lives, it would say:

“There is no longer gay or straight, trans or cis, doubting or devoted—for you are all beloved in Christ Jesus.”

Amen? Amen.

Reflect + Respond

🌀 Where have you placed conditions on love—toward yourself or others?
🌀 Who needs to be seen at your table—not labeled?
🌀 How might you listen this week, rather than label?

Hashtags for Social Media

#TheBibleDoesntSay #ProgressiveChristianity #GraceWithoutJudgment #Luke7 #Romans5 #LoveFirst #FaithWithoutFootnotes #InclusiveChurch #ChurchWithoutLabels #EmbodiedGrace #ComeAsYouAre