On Being Hated….
I began getting ominous phone calls and texts today about the upcoming election. People are scared—maybe you aren’t and maybe no one should be—but November 5 will represent the most consequential election of our lifetimes. Half of the nation believes we are abandoning our Christian foundation and principles, and the half the nation believes we need to go much, much further in becoming less of a Christian nation and more of a pluralistic nation.
It’s not my place to tell you how to vote or what to think, but it is my task, as a pastor, to lead people to truth and to shepherd followers of Christ into loving, forgiving, defending, and helping others.
What concerns me more than being called “garbage”, weird, a Nazi or a communist, is the hate that presently seems to permeate our society. People really do hate others from the same family! It’s okay to disagree….it’s your right to believe any cockamamy idea you want. But the associated hate that some folks have for folks that disagree with them is not of God. I can hate your philosophy or your stand on a moral issue, or disagree with your preferred form of government. But to wish you dead, or to harm you, or to call you a filthy name because of your choice?! That’s for to God to judge and punish—not me.
I know people that hate me. Do you know people that hate you? It’s kind of unnerving, when you discover some folks that you thought liked you, really don’t like you at all. And very, very often, the reasons are absurd! But the enemy causes blindness and deafness, whereas Jesus Christ opens eyes and ears to truth. In Christ there’s no place for hate and disgust for another soul. Be careful of how your disapproval of a person’s opinion or conviction can turn to hate.
Think about this in your own life for a minute: Who hates you and why do they hate you? I make a list each morning of folks that hate me—and I pray for them. I disgust them. They say bad things about me. And sometimes I look back and realize that maybe I could have handled and responded better to those that once liked me and now hate me. But for the life of me, there’s not a soul that hates me that walks with Jesus in the manner I think a man or woman should. Their behavior is not of the righteous sort, but the other sort. Sometimes, you can tell more about a person’s life by those that hate him or her, than you can be those that love him or her. “I’d rather be hated for who I am, than be loved for who I am not.” I hope you feel the same.
Hatred to another human being stops/eliminates Christian growth and destroys your usefulness in God’s work. It’s antithetical to our whole faith and Christ’s message or redemption.
Think of those people that God loved, but that the people of their time hated: Moses…..King David….Saint Paul….Jesus Christ….God Himself. Don’t look to be hated, but if you are, it does not mean that you’re unusual, deserving of hate or even that you’re wrong. In fact, being right sometimes brings out the greatest meanness of others!
I pray for those that hate me each day. For some, I have to confess I have given some “cause” or reason for them to hate me. But I’ve done worse to many that still hold me close—-as a friend!
I believe you can tell about the character and calling of a man by knowing about those that hate him than you can than by recounting those that love the same man. I don’t try to give anyone a reason to hate me, but they often create their own little drama out of jealousy. Jealous, hard-hearted, , and insecure people— hate. It’s just an easier emotion to manage, I suppose, and takes a lot less effort than loving, forgiving, and esteeming someone higher.
I’m no saint, but as I pray for those that I know hate me, I realize that they are not the kind of people I want to be around at all. Those that hate me are not respected, esteemed highly or admired by anyone! So why does it burden me that I am hated? Should it bother us?
I am talking about hate today, because I come across it a lot more, it seems, and I am bewildered by those that hate me. What can I do about it? Well, give no cause for the hate to grow, and more maturely, let it go. God will deal with it—-and them. I pray to Him about those that hate me, He assures me , as I rush to Him when I feel that I cannot survive the animosity, or the indifference of others, that He has chosen me, that I am precious to Him, and that He does not hate me—-He loves me—more than anyone on this earth ever can, and that He sees what I am enduring and He will handle the situation—-and them—in His perfect time. Revenge is mine, says the Lord.
Here’s what Jesus said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ (John 15:18-25, NIV)
A sensible person should not look for hatred or hope for it—-but people will hate you for believing in Him, acting like Him, and even more for obeying Him. Truth only sets people free if they are looking for truth. When a man makes up his mind, regardless of the truth, those of speaking and living in truth become a threat….a hindrance….the enemy of the lie they hold onto.
It’s simply not possible to live a Christian life without having the world, and its demons, place a target upon your back. But to experience hate so blatantly in the USA—-up close lately with this election—and see the preposterous things that people say about you, if you hold to Christian values and core beliefs, in astounding—I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. And if you are not secure in your faith you may\ even start to doubt if you’re on the right side of right and wrong because of all the animus that’s thrown at you! But be assured what Jesus said:
- They hated me without reason.
- I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you
Kim Strassel, in the Wall Street Journal opined last week: “The media is doing its best to play down Joe Biden’s casual insult of half of America as “garbage”—he was misunderstood, it was a “gaffe,” let’s meditate on Donald Trump’s garbage-truck “stunt.” Mr. Biden called those that support Trump “semi-fascists,” “MAGA extremists” and proponents of “Jim Crow 2.0”.
I am sure that some Republicans have said some inappropriate things about Ms. Harris and Democrats. But people that support Mr. Trump have been called idiots, yokels, deplorables. Republican men are accused of “toxic masculinity.” The women written off as “handmaids” or religious “fanatics.” If you don’t bow to progressive dogma, you called a fascist. Sexist. Racist. Nationalist. Insurrectionist. Domestic terrorist. Extremist. “Far” rightist. And a homophobe. And a Nazi. Who is bitter. And clinging to a gun and a religion.
Tim Walz, Harriss’ running mate, has announced that Republicans are “weird.” What a joke. They hate the things most all Christians believe in, and call us weird for holding fast to our faith. Want to know what’s really weird? Taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries for felons. Attempts to regulate cow flatulence. The expectation that fewer police will mean less crime. The 1619
project. Decriminalizing border crossings. Boys competing in girls’ sports. The murder of an unborn baby for the career or convenience of a mother. Hatred and insults are the last refuge of fools, and there was a day when politicians on both sides understood the “likability” factor in elections. It’s hard to like a party that views you as trash.”
But maybe each of us should examine our own heart for a moment: Do we hate someone? It’s totally contrary to the nature of Jesus, our Savior, Lord and Mentor, our example to hate. There’s no place for it at His table. But it’s good to admit the truth…if you do hate someone….it’s a starting point: Do you have hate in your heart toward someone? A former girlfriend or boyfriend, a parent, a boss, an ex-friend? You’re never going to make much of a mark in God’s work if you do, but admitting it to yourself—and to God—is the first step to living like a true son or daughter to live. Jesus demands that we forgive those that have hurt us. He will help you get rid of that hate, he’ll help you forgive, but you must confess the hate and ask for His help.
It’s okay to hate: sin, war, the depravity of mankind, the actions of all beings opposed to God, et al. But Jesus did not hate those that tortured Him, mocked Him, and ignored Him. Neither can you or I.
Something big is going to happen Tuesday night and our nation will, in my opinion, change. But we pray, we do our jobs, we trust in an Almighty God, and we put away hate and revenge. We trust God to sort things out…..we pray for judges and those in authority over us to have the will and wisdom to do the right things…..and we rest, knowing that this too shall pass.
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