5.02.2012

We Will Be Hated

I think sometimes as Christians, we try to hide in the shadows of this world. We don't want to be offensive to anyone, we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But here's the big one... we don't want the world to HATE us. But Jesus lets us in on the fact that we will be hated.

18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.(John 15:18-20 ESV)

So Christ reveals to us that his teachings are not exactly the most popular thing in the world. So when we try to live for him, we will be persecuted. This is hard to grasp in a day and age where political correctness is what we are being taught. But when politically correct goes against God, we can't just ride the tide. 


Now I'm not saying to go out with a picket sign and yell at the top of your lungs that Jesus hates sinners and all sinners will go straight to hell for their sins. This makes the Gospel completely judgmental and ignorant. What we need to do is teach the good news of mercy and grace of the Gospel through love. The Gospel is perfected love at it's craziest and most unconditional point. Jesus died for every sin in it's past, present, and future. We need to show the world this. 


The world will most assuredly hate you at times for this, for they don't understand. But we CAN'T reach a world of hate with hate. It just doesn't work. Too often there is an angry gospel preached. God hates this type of person, God hates that type of person. If God hates those sinners, he hates you too. We are ALL sinners, but God doesn't hate anyone. God cannot look on sin, because he is the opposite of sin. But the message we should be preaching is the ultimate love message of Jesus who took the sin of the world and defeated it. 

 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 Sometimes we have to eat the hatred in order for the true love of Jesus to be shown and spread. 


-Pastor D