Manifested love Pt 22: You’ll be hated
John 15:18-20 18If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If 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. 20Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obey my teaching, they will obey yours also.
Psalm 35:19 19Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do no let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.
Psalm 69:4 4Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause who seek to destroy me.
The thought that the world hates Jesus is a controversial topic to some people as we will see. It has several facets and would be difficult to interact with in just one posting. I’ve separated the discussion into two posting for this reason.
The world
‘The world’ is a nebulous term which is often used carelessly in the believing community. I was talking with a friend in advance of writing this posting and she took offense when I described it as writing about the world hating Jesus. That’s when I realized I was being careless. The phrase ‘the world’ refers to that group of wicked people who either consciously or unconsciously set themselves against Jesus, his precepts, and his Kingdom. It certainly does not refer to every single person on the planet who does not identify as a believer. Similarly, ‘believer’ does not refer to every single person who identifies as Christian. The words are general in nature; there is a wide gradient in each group.
But I think most people will agree society is becoming more and more secular; sociologists and theologians often refer to this current time as a post-Christian culture. Current society sees Godly precepts as overly rigid and intolerant and so in a functional way I still hold to the belief that the world hates Christ even though many, many fully believing and secular individuals do love Jesus. In Jesus’ day, the world was represented by the Pharisees and Sadducees who were the leaders in the Jewish community. They had much to lose if Jesus was successful in upsetting their worldview, so they were adamantly opposed to him. In our day the world is represented by willfully atheistic, immoral actions which adherents demand to be taken as ‘normal’.
You do not belong to the world
We occasionally hear the believing community say, “We are in the world, but not of the world” by which they attempt to point out the change in character which comes from accepting Jesus as Savior. In Western society the majority view of morals, truth, and ethics is that everything is relative. That relativity might be translated as, “Everybody’s situation is right for them, there is no absolute right or wrong, so everyone should tolerate the behavior of everyone else.” But the believing community holds to a set of beliefs, called precepts, which hold that there is absolute truth applicable to every person. Jesus is called the Living Word precisely because he embodies those absolute truths such as love, acceptance, and forgiveness. We who follow him therefore have a different definition of morals, ethics, and truth.
So while we do live in the world in the sense that we are alive on this planet, we are not of the world because we hold to a radically different value system. In the relativistic view, no person is responsible for his or her actions, since by definition what is right for him must actually be right. Believers hold to absolute truth and when they break that truth they recognize they are frail sinful people who need Jesus’ help to overcome their weakness. Where the one finds excuse for their actions, the other recognizes responsibility and seeks forgiveness.
I chose you
This is the key. Jesus chose each of us, not the other way around. He used the circumstances of our life to show us that our way of doing things wasn’t working. The implications of this are profound: It means Jesus loved us even before we knew him. It means he considers us important and needful to advance his Kingdom. It means we are valued just as we are. And it also means things will change for us. When we were out doing our thing we were no threat to Satan. We were doing exactly what he wanted us to do; evil, unrepentant sin, hateful speech, and similar action. Now though, having accepted Jesus as Savior, we are a threat because we hold to those higher values. We stand for righteousness and holy living.
Who will be persecuted?
It is becoming more and more obvious that this difference in world view is resulting in rejection of Godly values. People who hold to Godly values are seen as intolerant and society is gradually devolving to the belief that everyone is OK except those who are intolerant. As Antichrist arises, this will come to be more and more obvious. The persecuted, then, are those who hold to Godly precepts. They are opposed because they follow Jesus’ teaching, because they boldly bring that same message to the public venue, because they expose the world’s hypocrisy, and because the good news of Jesus’ teaching brings healing and removal of people from bondage to the world system.
What about me?
Every person has a choice in how they will live their life. They can ‘give in’ to their baser instincts, do whatever feels good at the moment, blame others when consequences arise, and otherwise excuse their actions. Or, they can choose to rise to a higher level, live a life of greater morality and holiness, and recognize that when they do fail they can repent of that particular sin and move on. Living the higher life leads to a much more successful life. By successful, I do not necessarily mean financial success. Society will always have the rich, the poor, and every financial level in between. But every single person, no matter what their station in life, can choose the way she will go.
What about you? When struggles come will you go to the bar to get drunk so to feel better about yourself? Will you turn to drugs, or porn or some other escape? When I came to Christ, it was through a hugely horrible divorce. I was about as low as an ant in a gutter. But in Jesus everything turned around; life suddenly had meaning. When I found God, I found direction. Now I am doing exactly what God wants me to do. I am convinced of it. You can find certainty in your life too.