When Words Become Whips: Confronting Curated Sin Lists with Christ’s Priorities

Truth Without Justice Is Not Truth at All

We live in a time when “truth-telling” has become a banner phrase for many Christians. In pulpits, on social media, and in the public square, certain sins are named loudly, repeatedly, almost obsessively. And yet the lists are curated—selective. The spotlight falls on the vulnerable, while the powerful often pass without comment.

It is not difficult to find a sermon, a post, or a rally where transgender people are named and condemned, or where single mothers, immigrants, or those who don’t fit cultural expectations are ridiculed as the downfall of society. What is harder to find is outrage at billionaires exploiting the poor, corporations stealing wages, or politicians trading compassion for profit and partisanship.

This imbalance matters. Because when our words become whips against the wounded while leaving untouched the greed of the strong, we no longer present Christ. We present a false image—a Christ who blesses the powerful while driving out the vulnerable. That is not the Jesus of Scripture.

Anchor in the Word

Key Verse

Key Scripture Context

Jesus spoke these words as part of His fiercest rebuke of religious leaders. They prided themselves on careful rule-keeping and public righteousness, but their priorities were crooked. They magnified small details of devotion while neglecting the weightier matters: justice, mercy, and faith. In doing so, they betrayed the very God they claimed to serve.

What We’re Facing

Curated Sin Lists and the Scourge of Words

The modern church has its own version of tithing mint and dill. Instead of herbs, it is a preferrential sin lists—selected, curated, repeated. Sexual sin, gender expression, cultural nonconformity—these become the whipping posts. Preachers thunder against them; congregations shout with approval; social media keyboard warriors pile on.

But where is the same zeal against exploitation? Where is the righteous anger against billionaires who hoard wealth while workers scrape by, often having to rely on public assistance? Where are the sermons about the unjust systems that profit from oppression? Where is the outrage at banking and insurance systems that create laws to grind the impoverished down? Too often, those are the “respectable sins,” ignored because they belong to the powerful, or even excused as blessings from God.

When this happens, truth loses its shape. It is no longer truth at all, but distortion. The vulnerable are crushed, and those most in need of mercy encounter instead a false Christ made in the image of human prejudice.

Then and Now—Drawing Parallels

In the ancient temple courts, worshippers came with their sacrifices, longing for peace with God. But the system was tilted against them. Moneychangers demanded unfair rates; sellers profited off holy devotion. The leaders who should have defended the worshippers instead protected the profits.

Jesus overturned those tables. He confronted corruption at the top and defended the dignity of the poor. His fury was not against seekers but against exploiters.

Today, the same inversion appears. Leaders fixate on “culture wars,” hammering the broken while excusing or even blessing those who profit from injustice. The trans person is cast as a threat to society while billionaires buying power are praised as God’s instruments. The poor are told to bear their lot quietly, while the wealthy are celebrated for their “success.” The tables remain set, but now they are piled with a sin list as well as coins.

Theological Truth in Plain Language

The witness of Scripture is consistent: God’s heart is for the vulnerable, and His judgment falls on those who exploit them.

• The prophets railed against those who “sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals” (Amos 2:6, NLT).

• Jesus declared that He was sent “to bring good news to the poor… to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18, NLT).

• James warned that “the rich who hoard wealth” will face miseries because they “kept back the wages” of their workers (James 5:1-4, NLT).

And yet how often do we see modern Christian instiutions blessing wealth built on exploitation, while turning its fiercest condemnations on those already pushed to the margins?

A.W. Tozer once wrote: *“A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.”*¹ The curated sin list flips this. It is easy on the wealthy, the powerful, the insiders—and hard on the poor, the outsider, the vulnerable. This is not the Spirit of Christ.

Charles Spurgeon offered a similar warning: *“I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”*² When we ignore greed and exploitation while magnifying curated sins, we show the world not Christ, but compromise.

And Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who resisted a church that bowed to power, put it plainly: *“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”*³ When Christians remain silent about systemic sins while loudly condemning the marginalized, they betray the Christ who spoke for the oppressed.

Practical Moves of Faith

Examine Your Sin List

Ask yourself: Whose sins am I most outraged by? Are they the sins of the powerless, the ones already marginalized? Or are they the sins of the powerful, the systemic injustices that crush lives? If your outrage is selective, your list is curated—and Christ calls you to repentance.

Speak Justice as Boldly as Morality

It is right to care about holiness. But holiness divorced from justice is hypocrisy. Raise your voice not only about sexual morality but also about wage theft, exploitation, greed, racism, and oppression. Name the sins Jesus named loudest.

Reflect Christ to the Vulnerable

When you speak about sin, ask: Would the person hearing me feel invited toward Christ or driven away? Jesus did not break bruised reeds or snuff out smoldering wicks (Matthew 12:20, NLT). Neither should we.

Pray for a Reordered Heart

Ask God to reorder your priorities so that justice, mercy, and faith come first. Pray Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT): “Search me, O God, and know my heart… Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

More Light for the Journey

• Isaiah 1:17 (NLT): “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”
  → God’s priority list has always placed justice and mercy at the center.

• James 2:1 (NLT): “How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?”
  → Favoritism in morality is as dangerous as favoritism in wealth.

• Luke 6:37 (NLT): “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.”
  → Condemnation is not our calling; mercy is.

• Micah 6:8 (NLT): “O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
  → This is the heart of the law—justice, mercy, and humility.

Let’s Walk This Out Together

When Christians curate sin lists, they betray Christ by misrepresenting Him to the world. They lash out at the vulnerable while blessing the powerful. They defend purity while excusing oppression.

But there is another way. We can hold truth and justice together. We can proclaim holiness while practicing mercy. We can turn over the tables of exploitation while opening our arms to the marginalized.

This is not about abandoning truth—it is about returning to it. The truth of Jesus is not selective. It is complete: justice, mercy, and faith together.

Call to Action:
Share your reflections in the comments or on social media using #JusticeMercyFaith. Let’s commit ourselves to speaking truth in a way that looks like Christ—gracious, merciful, and bold for justice.

Journaling Prompt: Reordering the List

• Whose sins come to your mind first when you think of “what’s wrong with the world”? Are they the sins of the powerful or the vulnerable?

• What would it look like to let Jesus reorder your priorities so that justice, mercy, and faith come first?

• Where have your own words risked becoming whips instead of invitations? How could they be reshaped to reflect the true Christ?

Footnotes

1. A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1955).

2. Charles Spurgeon, Sermon No. 382, The Great Sin of Doing Nothing, preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, 1861.

3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (New York: Touchstone, 1997).