A LOT OF NOISE

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

I once heard of a church who was looking for a pastor. They were trying to decide between two men. When they finally chose one of them he wondered why they chose him over the other. One of the members explained, "Well, you both preached from the same text. You both preached like you thought we were bound for hell." He paused, "But the other preacher acted like he was glad of it and you seemed to be sorry about it."
When we warn others of their sins it seems just like a bunch of noise if we don't do it with love. One of the things that I learned early in my ministry was that everyone was not going to love me. God convicted me that he did not send me there to be loved by them but so that I might love them.
A young girl was visiting a mission field when she saw how dirty all the little children were. She asked the missionary, "How can they let their children be so dirty? Don't they love them?"
He answered, "Yes they love them. They just don't hate dirt. You hate dirt but you don't love the children. It is only when someone who hates dirt and loves the children comes along that they will be cleaned up."
That is the way with reaching the world. We must hate sin and it's destructiveness and at the same time love the sinner that is being destroyed. It is only then that we can lead them to Christ. Anything else is just noise.