The world is gonna do things that will tick off the church. I think it’s important for us to get that. Those who do not believe what we believe will not live by the same standards we do. Sin is rampant in the world.
I’m always amazed when Christians get bent out of shape over the latest misbehaved celebrity, crooked politician or convicted criminal. Not that we have to be okay with sinful acts, but is that our battle? Is our goal to defeat sin?
I will argue that it is not in any way, shape or form the church’s job to defeat sin in the world.
Those who are unsaved do not have the Holy Spirit and are therefore incapable of pleasing God. If they are incapable of pleasing God, no amount of morality will help them. That’s the spiritual equivalent of putting a band-aid on someone with cancer expecting it to solve the problem.
Romans 8:7-9 says:
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”
Abstinence from sin is absolutely beneficial for growing closer in our walk with God and more Christlike in our daily lives; but abstinence from sin apart from the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is utterly worthless.
I believe the most dangerous teaching in the world is not anti-Christ Satanism, but unspiritual morality! For no message lulls more people into spiritual complacency and gives them a false view of their own sinfulness. Unspiritual morality will keep MANY from walking through the gates of salvation; I suspect moreso than any other deception known to mankind.
Instead of criticizing nonbelievers for not living morally, we must share the gospel with them. Otherwise we run the risk of setting morality up as an idol to be worshiped in place of the God who exemplifies morality.
I do not recommend that people get clean before coming to God. I say come to Him dirty! Come with blood on your hands, dirt under your fingernails, lust in your eyes and greed in your heart. Whatever state you are in, good or bad, just come and don’t waste any time. Jesus won't let you stay there, but He wants you to come as you are.
I imagine the prostitutes came to Jesus wearing the clothes they wore to seduce men with; and I imagine the tax collectors came holding their money bags filled with the profits they extorted from their fellow Hebrews.
But to the Pharisees, who kept themselves free of any outward hint of sinfulness, Jesus said:
"Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." -Matthew 21:31
Understanding our own sinfulness and lack of moral standing before God is absolutely the first thing a person should learn about faith. It is the basis for why we come to God in the first place; to be rid of our sinful flesh so we can experience communion with Him for eternity. And any sense of morality outside of a relationship with Christ is highly deceptive and dangerous.