Hate. What an ugly word! But so much of our world today is filled with it. I am facing an awkward dilemma about honesty and hate. Before I go any farther, I want to be fair to those in my past who have been mentors, teachers, and had any kind of impact. I deeply appreciate all that was taught and modeled for me. Also, I do not hold any of those people responsible for what I am about to confess. This is not a lay blame on someone else rant.
With that said, I must come clean and admit to a life that has been filled with hate. Some where, some how though I know I didn't go to any instructional classes or seminars on this, I grew up learning to hate. By now you have to be wondering, "Hate what?" I don't really know if I could finish the answer to that question in one blog. It certainly would take a great deal of time to state all of the possibilities.
A self-reflection at the age of 47 and I realize that I have spent more time in life learning to hate or despise than to cherish and love. This is a huge problem for someone who claims to be a devoted follower of Christ and even more so for a pastor. (In fact, as I type each word I am conflicted with telling the truth or just glossing over it.) Along my life's path, I have learned to hate (such an ugly word) anything that is not correct. Unfortunately, this is something that stemmed from roots in Christian circles but is definitely not what Jesus taught.
I exist in a culture that talks of love but lives in hate. Turn on any form of media and you will see hate . . . political hate (from both sides), social hate (often called injustice) and every other type of hate. Though we now live in a post-Christian (or anti-Christian) nation, America was once considered Christian. How can this be? The question really would be better stated "Why?"
As devoted followers of Christ, we have lost our "why?" and have been more concerned with the "what." This is exactly the issue that repulses people from churches and Christians. We have become the same as everyone else, haters. Jesus stands, falsely accused before Pilate. The crowd begins the chant to end His life through crucifixion. Haters in full force, being egged on to a frenzy of abhorrence. Pilate longing for Jesus to give a glimpse of a reason to release Him. Jesus' response is love.
Those epic words Jesus repeated to Nicodemus in John 3:16, "For God so loved the word. . . " have been lost on Christians who are more concerned with the "what." We have become the haters of others who don't conform to our versions of religious participation. Fear has moved us farther away from the model that Jesus gave us. Why we would never stop to speak to the woman at the well (John 4). She has lived much to immoral of a life to be one on one witnessing. We would be exercising "church" discipline on the woman taken in the very act of adultery (John 8). The list could go on.
How we live is so important in this day of extremes. My biblical position (that is theologically) makes me counter-cultural. Jesus was definitely counter-cultural. Being counter-cultural doesn't mean hating those around us though. One of the most iconic stories Jesus told in the Bible was that of the Good Samaritan. The preface to that story was an interaction He had with a lawyer. The lawyer's understanding of obtaining eternal life was to love God with your totality and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus' reply to the lawyer was simply, "do this and you will live (Luke 10:28).
Lost in all the story about who is my neighbor, is the reality of loving God and loving others. I have been guilty of not loving my fellow man the way I should, which in turn means I am not loving God, the Creator, either. Yes, sin is to be despised, and God calls us to holiness, but loving others is what Jesus did no matter their background, disposition or even their faults. As I sit in church on Sunday and wonder why there are so many empty seats, I guess the answer is obvious. I haven't been loving to others the way Jesus is loving to me. More truth that I have stumbled over.
I exist in a culture that talks of love but lives in hate. Turn on any form of media and you will see hate . . . political hate (from both sides), social hate (often called injustice) and every other type of hate. Though we now live in a post-Christian (or anti-Christian) nation, America was once considered Christian. How can this be? The question really would be better stated "Why?"
As devoted followers of Christ, we have lost our "why?" and have been more concerned with the "what." This is exactly the issue that repulses people from churches and Christians. We have become the same as everyone else, haters. Jesus stands, falsely accused before Pilate. The crowd begins the chant to end His life through crucifixion. Haters in full force, being egged on to a frenzy of abhorrence. Pilate longing for Jesus to give a glimpse of a reason to release Him. Jesus' response is love.
Those epic words Jesus repeated to Nicodemus in John 3:16, "For God so loved the word. . . " have been lost on Christians who are more concerned with the "what." We have become the haters of others who don't conform to our versions of religious participation. Fear has moved us farther away from the model that Jesus gave us. Why we would never stop to speak to the woman at the well (John 4). She has lived much to immoral of a life to be one on one witnessing. We would be exercising "church" discipline on the woman taken in the very act of adultery (John 8). The list could go on.
How we live is so important in this day of extremes. My biblical position (that is theologically) makes me counter-cultural. Jesus was definitely counter-cultural. Being counter-cultural doesn't mean hating those around us though. One of the most iconic stories Jesus told in the Bible was that of the Good Samaritan. The preface to that story was an interaction He had with a lawyer. The lawyer's understanding of obtaining eternal life was to love God with your totality and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus' reply to the lawyer was simply, "do this and you will live (Luke 10:28).
Lost in all the story about who is my neighbor, is the reality of loving God and loving others. I have been guilty of not loving my fellow man the way I should, which in turn means I am not loving God, the Creator, either. Yes, sin is to be despised, and God calls us to holiness, but loving others is what Jesus did no matter their background, disposition or even their faults. As I sit in church on Sunday and wonder why there are so many empty seats, I guess the answer is obvious. I haven't been loving to others the way Jesus is loving to me. More truth that I have stumbled over.
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