As Christians, we are called to love and treat everyone with compassion, yet we need to be careful when we accept something God considers sinful as the cultural norm. There are two separate issues here: How we treat others and how, as a culture, we handle sin.

Jesus Christ is the perfect balance of grace and truth. He accepted people, but not their sin. The sins that grieve the Father grieve the son because God and Jesus are one. When God calls something a sin, Jesus does not overlook it; He says, “Go, and sin no more.” The whole Bible is God’s word: the New Testament does not cancel out the Old Testament.

We need both Biblical truth and grace when evaluating cultural decisions, because our decisions will eventually impact Christian business and churches and they may be forced to adopt positions that go against religious convictions. Our cultural decisions will also impact our families and children and, if something may negatively impact our children, we have an obligation to speak up.

As followers of Jesus, when deciding what is acceptable as a society, we need to ask ourselves are we making decisions that bring us closer to or further from God. To help us, God uses pastors to share Biblical truths to the world and to lead believers. They need to be supported, because it takes courage to speak Biblical truth, especially when it is counterculture.

As a Christian, I will love and treat everyone compassionately, but I will shop at stores that I know will support Biblical principles and family values.