[The Revelator]

There is a fine line between loving the world, and loving people. Let me show you what I mean by revealing the very next verse in 1 John 2.

1 John 2:15-16
15 Love not the world, NEITHER THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE WORLD. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Alright. When John is telling us not to love the world and the things of the world, he isnt refering to actual PEOPLE, he is referring to THINGS. How do I know this? Look at the next verse. He lists off the things of the world that we should not love. He lists of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride as a few examples of what he's talking about. If he really meant people, dont you think his examples would have been something like "drunkards, homosexuals, and sinners"? But no, that was not his examples because that wa snot what he was referring to.

You can still love your fellow man without loving the world. You have heard of the phrase, "Love the sinner, hate the sin." As much as I agree with you that it is somewhat a cliche, it does have truth to it.

Jesus was the perfect example of this. HE ATE WITH TAX COLLECTERS AND SINNERS. He associated with them on a daily basis. But he never partook in their actions. He loved his neighbor, but did not practice in their sin. Since we are to be like Christ aren't we supposed to do the same thing?