Question: Our new Bible study teacher is friendly, funny, and very intelligent. But, she says that we should be neutral on the sinful behaviors being promoted in our culture or we might come across as judgmental or hateful! Should I stay in her study group?

Answer: No! It’s very important for Believers to be in Bible studies and churches that teach God’s Word correctly! Your new leader may sound smart, but she is not teaching you the truth. The Scriptures do not tell us to be neutral about sin. Our sins are what keep us separated from a Holy God. And when we sin, we are being disobedient to God. God hates sin. (Proverbs 6:16-19) And, so should we. There’s nothing neutral about that!

But while hating the sin, God loves the sinner and so should we. We are all sinners saved only by the grace of God through our acceptance of His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior! (John 3:16) Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. He rose on the third day to live again with God the Father!

As for being judgmental, Jesus did say in Matthew 7:1 to “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (NKJV) However, His teaching does not stop there. Verses 3-5 go on to say, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye?… Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

So, while your teacher is correct to say that we shouldn’t be hateful and judgmental hypocrites, she leaves out the rest of God’s teachings. It is not uncommon for those who are leading you away from God to mix their sweet-sounding lies with a little bit of truth.

Another example of this is when these false teachers try to convince you that since you are not committing a certain sin yourself, it’s okay to support leaders who give legitimacy to certain sins being promoted in our culture. But God’s Word doesn’t say supporting these type of leaders is fine. In fact, the scriptures tell us that supporting such leaders would be wrong. (Read Romans 1:18-32)

Therefore, you must not believe these false teachers. They will only lead you away from God. (Matthew 7:15-20) Pray that you don’t fall victim to their sweet talk when what they are saying goes against God’s Word!