We don’t do the Almighty any favors by looking to find fault in people and disparaging and berating sinners. The story of Avraham and Sedom teaches that to the contrary, God Himself wants us to defend those who sin – even the people of Sedom.
We read in Parashat Vayera of Avraham’s plea to God to spare the condemned city of Sedom, which God had decided to eliminate – along with the neighboring towns – because of the sinfulness of its population. The Midrash Tanchuma, commenting on these verses, writes:
The Almighty does not wish to find any creature guilty, as it says, “For I do not wish the death of a person deserving death” (Yechezkel 18:32)… What does He wish? To exonerate His creatures… The proof is that when the Sedomites sinned, the Almighty revealed [their sentence] to Avraham in order that he would advocate for them…. Avraham immediately began defending them…
The Midrash infers from the story of Sedom that God does not look to find fault with people, and, to the contrary, is interested in finding a basis for acquitting His subjects in judgment. He informed of Avraham of His decree as an invitation to Avraham to petition on the city’s behalf, showing us that His wish is to acquit, rather than condemn, sinners.
Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Yalkut Yehuda explains the practical message that the Midrash here seeks to convey:
The idea here is that a person should not think that if he defends the wicked, he thereby infringes upon God’s honor. For we see from this [incident] that He is not concerned about His honor; after all, He sought to find a source of merit for those who sinned against Him and one whose behalf it would thus seem appropriate to abstain from advocating. They thus commented here that this is not the case, for the Almighty Himself wants a source of merit to be found even for the wicked.
It is tempting to rail against sinners, as it leaves one feeling gratified that he wages a sacred battle to defend God’s honor. The story of Avraham and Sedom, however, teaches that to the contrary, God Himself wants us to defend those who sin – even the people of Sedom. He is interested in finding a basis for an innocent verdict, not in condemning and censuring. And He wants us to do the same. We don’t do the Almighty any favors by looking to find fault in people and disparaging and berating sinners. We must follow the example set by Avraham Avinu of vigorously searching for the merits and favorable qualities of our fellow Jews, rather than just protesting what they do wrong supposedly for the sake of God’s honor.