When We Love Someone, We Want Them to Go to Heaven
Remember the post I did a few weeks ago about popular female teachers and writers? It has come out, as I am sure most of you have heard, that the very popular “Christian” blogger and speaker, Jen Hatmaker, doesn’t teach about sin, repentance, obedience, or hell. She just wants everyone to “love ” each other and get along. I have been warning women about women like this because if they don’t teach about God’s love and mercy, without teaching about sin and the hard things, they are on a very slippery slope away from the Truth of God.
Matt Walsh, who is not afraid to speak truth, wrote about this and I love what he said in the comment section of his article on Facebook. “A lot of people here are talking about love. We should love gay people they say, which means applauding their sin. Two things about that: 1)The greatest commandment in the Bible is to love God above all else. We must love God first. And loving God, according to Jesus, means following His commandments. It also means trusting in Him and leaning on His own understanding, nor our own. So if you are ignoring or casting aside Biblical teachings for the sake of ‘loving’ others, then you are really putting your love for man above your love for God, which is a form of idol worship. 2) What does it mean to love someone? I would agree with St. Thomas Aquinas that to love is to will the good of the other. In other words, when we love someone, we want them to go to Heaven. That’s the only kind of love that matters. It’s the only kind of love that can really be called love. So if you ‘love’ someone by allowing them to remain in their sin, and helping to make them even more comfortable in it, then you do not love them. It’s really that simple.”
We are commanded to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We are to exhort one another daily because of the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). The Bible says that in the end times there will be a great falling away of the Church (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Don’t let this be you. Don’t be afraid to speak truth. Love others enough to speak truth. Yes, you will have many who hate you. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18) but continually reminds yourself that“greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Another woman, Jen Kliewer, commented on Matt Walsh’s post. “Jen Hatmaker has a gift for writing. But unfortunately, she is one who tickles people’s ears with what they want to hear. I think that her intentions are not evil – she wants to make Christianity ‘palatable’ and feels like she needs to help it along – but she does not realize how she is being used by the enemy to lead people astray. This is the passage that I think best describes Jen Hatmaker and many of today’s popular bloggers and speakers: ‘For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables’ (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).
I don’t tickle women’s ears with what they want to hear. I hear about this daily. Either women are scolding me, angry with me, thanking me for convicting them, or encouraging me to keep on keeping on. I don’t want to lead other’s astray. It is only the Truth of God’s Word that convicts and changes people. Sin is what nailed our precious Savior to the tree. He came to free us from sin and He asks we believe in Him, His finished work on the cross, and walk in the Spirit obeying what He has commanded. Do this and live eternally with Him. If someone who is popular never convicts or challenges you in the way you live, stop learning from them. I only listen to those who challenge and convict me because I want to be more like Christ. We will never become like Him if we only listen to those who make us “feel” good and never challenge us to rid our lives of sin.
For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:7
12 thoughts on “When We Love Someone, We Want Them to Go to Heaven”
I am so glad you wrote on this issue. I have read 3 of Jen Hatmaker’s books in the past. She is funny, relatable, and has a good writing style in my opinion. However, I was never convicted by anything she wrote. I didn’t pick up her books looking for specific biblical advice but I was expecting some since she is a “Christian” author. I read an interview yesterday that she did a few days ago as well as the article Matt Walsh wrote. My question is how in the world could she have possibly gotten that gay marriage is holy from our Bible? She has a big platform and is leading people astray with this. It is so easy to be deceived and I’m afraid people that don’t have a strong biblical foundation will believe this lie as well. Everything seems to be permissible these days and very few people call sin out anymore. It’s sad. Thank you for teaching from the Bible and not your opinions even when it’s unpopular. Have a great day!
Thank you, Summer. I just went to her Facebook page for the first time and read these words of hers: “I made Jesus so complicated for so long. So many rules and hierarchies. I somehow forgot how he said, ‘Here is my whole kingdom: Love God and love people. Also, come to me for rest because I am gentle.’ I got Jesus wrong for so long. He is every dream come true.”
No, He is not every dream come true since she has twisted the meaning of what His love consists of. She has forgotten or chose not to explain what nailed His hands and feet to the cross: the wicked and evil sin of the whole world. He calls all to repent from their sin or there will be eternal torment. This doesn’t sound like everyone’s dream come true. He is the Almighty God, the Lion of Judah, and a Consuming Fire.
A verse that comes to mine with regard to this situation:
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
God does not take lightly those who claim to be teachers and teach false doctrine, as Jen Hatmaker is doing. It’s so disappointing to see individuals preaching evil doctrine like this and leading weaker Christians astray.
Thanks for tackling this issue.
If our husband is in sin, we should make an appeal to him but only after we have learned to be a godly, submissive help meet to him first. I have written posts before about winning a husband “without a word” but this verse doesn’t mean we can’t respectfully make an appeal to our husband about their sin, but still be in subjection to him with godly behavior. We should never nag or scold them about it. We need to always continue to respect the authority position the Lord has given them. Husbands do not want to be lectured by their wives.
Whenever we confront anyone on their sin, we need to make sure we are not committing the same sin (pulling the log our of our own eye) before we point out someone else’e sin and it should be done in a kind and gentle way, not nagging or scolding them either.
You’re welcome. I know this verse and this is why I always want to teach the Word and not make up my own gospel since my gospel would be weak and save no one but God’s Gospel is strong and saves all who believe!
Today, I want to thank you for this post, Lori, because I obtained some courage from reading it. My husband has denied me sexual relations for three years and I believed there was nothing I could do about it. I read your post and decided to write him a letter, keeping my feelings out of it, but stating very clearly that he was putting himself at risk for the attacks of the devil because he was denying me. I quoted the Epistle from St. Paul and left it at that. I have left the letter where he can see it. I was taught never to nag and don’t intend to mention this again to him (I wrote that I would not bring it up again nor discuss it unless he decided to talk about it), but after three years I found some courage to address it.
Having followed you for many years, I have done a lot of the things you’ve described in the past, and I don’t agree with everything you say, but I believed that what you wrote today was very timely. This is meant sincerely. Thank you for helping me call this in some way to maybe end a lot of suffering.
I should clarify — I used to believe a great deal as you, but I found that most of the advice did me harm. I have since modified my views and began balancing between the very traditional and feminism, which is why I call myself “traditional feminist”; I am no longer a follower of the Pearls as it was very harmful to me and my children. But I want to thank you for writing this particular post and giving us the opportunity to see that we can, indeed, convict our husbands when they sin. There is a difference between nagging and pointing out that which needs to be addressed, and I appreciate your clarification of this.
Thank you, TF. Of course a woman has a right to make a respectful appeal to her husband who is in sin in thinking about his eternal soul. I caution them, however, that they must first look at themselves and make sure they are not living in disrespect of their husbands first.
Blessings!
The Pearls have received such a bad rap as I have. Their book has been out for 22 years and has benefited thousands of families. Their children have grown up to be great adults and so have my children who we raised similarly. How can what they teach be harmful when they reiterate several times that there should never be any abuse, disciplining in anger, or marks left on the behind? They are simply teaching what the Bible teaches about training children with a lot of great advice from experience. I am not sure how this could do children harm, unless it was done without joy, love, warmth, and lots of affection.
You are right about there being a difference between nagging and pointing out that which needs to be addressed!
True Agape love only wants the best for others.
Thank you for posting this. Too many people are twisting love to mean that acceptance sin is good.
This is what the Lord says about sin:
” What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
(Romans 6:1, 2)
I have been grieving over her interview since I read it yesterday. I agree with the comment that she is trying to make Christianity more palatable. Yet what she is really doing is cheapening it. Her reasoning for wanting churches to provide marriage support to gay couples is the same reasoning used to legalize abortion. Gay couples will get married anyway, so why not give them marriage counseling at church? Women are going to get abortions anyway so why not make it safe and legal? Making someone safe in their sin is not love. It is called enabling. I read on her facebook page people applauding her for telling “her” truth. This is but one Truth- the Bible. Nothing man says will ever change that.