Hated by the World - August 13, 2015

Hated by the World

August 13, 2015

John 15:18-19 NLT

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

Merriam Webster defines hate as “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.” Hate is a word that gets used a lot. To be honest, I think it is used way too much. People use it because they are mad at someone: “I hate you!” In fact it is used so much, it has lost meaning, just like saying “I love you” or “Trust me.” They are words that get thrown around with little meaning.

I’ve heard many people say “the world hates me.” When they are saying this it is rarely for the same thing as what Jesus is talking about in this passage. Usually it is because they feel left out, or they think that they do not have friends, or possibly any number of other reasons. By no means am I trivializing those feelings because those feelings are very real. Do those feelings need to be acknowledged? Absolutely. People matter. Jesus taught us to love everyone, including our enemies.

The hatred that Jesus is talking about is one that is because of Him, not us. People hated and still do hate Him. So, Jesus wasn’t throwing around words. When He said that people were going to hate the disciples because of Him, he meant hate in the truest sense of the word. Think about the “intense hostility” that was shown towards Jesus by the Jewish leaders of the day. They did not talk about exiling Him or sending Him to jail, they wanted Jesus dead. It was with a great sense of intensity that they looked for a way to accuse Him of a crime that would be fitting of a death penalty.

Jesus was not politically correct. This was part of the hatred. He taught things that went against the Jewish leaders. He called them out. Their faith had become about the rules and not about God. Many were in it simply for what they could get out of it. We see that a lot today. People use other people to get what they want. If you get in their way they will do what they have to move you out of the way. This plays out in our daily lives all the time.

The thing is, Jesus has the cure for the human condition. We are His messengers. How often are we afraid to share that message? More than we care to admit. There are things that the Bible teaches that we ‘sanitize’ because we fear what others will think rather than what God thinks. We have become so politically correct that now there are calls to ban the POW/MIA flag because it is offensive to some. Everyone finds something offensive. Think about this … just because I do not agree with you on something doesn’t mean I hate you! We are so afraid of what others think we are keeping the light of Christ hidden. Jesus taught that ¹⁶ “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” (Luke 18:16 NLT)

We need to shine the light of Christ. We need to live like and love like Jesus. When we do this we will be called out by people. They will hate us for what we believe. In a lot of countries around the world that means death for Christians. Those Christians know what Jesus was talking about when He said the world would hate us because of Him. They still choose Jesus. Do you?

Heavenly Father thank you for the example that Jesus gave us. We know the world will hate us because of you, because of Jesus. Help us to overcome that hatred, even if it means giving our lives. Jesus gave His life for us, we need to be willing to give ours to Him. Amen!