But the truth about Christianity is this: its not an either/or proposition; its a both/and concept.

The real problem, write authors Da id !innaman and "abe #yons, comes when we reco$ni%e "ods holiness &his 'ustice( but )ail to articulate the other side o) his character: $race &his lo e(. *esus represents truth plus $race +*ohn ,:,-.. /mbracin$ truth without holdin$ $race in tension leads to harsh le$alism, 'ust as $race without truth de ol es into compromise.0 1hile its much easier to err on one side or the other, the Christian )aith encoura$es people to embrace both "ods lo e and 'ustice. 2dmittedly, )aith in "od will3by de)inition3$rate a$ainst a morally ambi$uous culture. But what o)ten )uels anta$onism is the e4perience many people ha e had with o er%ealous Christians. 1hen someone hears thin$s li5e, The Bible says youre a terrible sinner and youre $oin$ to hell i) you dont repent and con ert, theyre hearin$ e4clusi ely about "ods 'ustice.6 2nd yet, as noted abo e, 'ustice is only part o) the e7uation; "ods lo e is e7ually as important. 8n cases li5e this, Christianity can become more o) a chec5list than a way o) li)e: read the Bible, say your prayers, $i e your money, $o to church. 8n this le$alistic way o) thin5in$, your alue or ri$hteousness depends on your ability to 5eep the rules e))ecti ely. 1hats worse is that reli$ious people construct their &rules( on the )oundation o) 9cripture, which ma5es &the rules( e en harder to detect. To the reli$ious person, this moral per)ormance trap feels ri$hteous.,: 2nd, un)ortunately, this o)ten translates into arro$ance, hypocrisy, and 'ud$ment. 1hen Christians are 'ud$mental, its usually because o) one o) two reasons +or both.: ,. ,. 8mbalance: an emphasis on 'ustice without or o er lo e ;. 8nsecurity: a need to )eel $ood about their li es, 'ust li5e e ery other human bein$ +and one way to do that is to compare your li)e to anothers.