Hatred: A Gage not a Goal

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
I think I’ll go eat worms!

Have you ever heard that old child’s rhyme? Normally it is said with a sad voice…but maybe its not such bad news after all.

The past few posts have considered the Christian life from the vantage point of it being life in the New Covenant which was promised by the prophets and established by Jesus. Life in Him is New Covenant life.

Jesus and His apostles gave us some interesting insights as to what this way of living will look like…and it is not a walk in the park. See what they said…

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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. 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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

John 15:18-21

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”

2 Timothy 3:12

Yet, in 2 Corinthians Paul gives us a word of hope amid this reality…

“persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”

2 Corinthians 4:9

Reflecting on this New Covenant Life

When we observe our lives and “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). or “make our calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10) we might ask: Who hates me? Identity a person or people who hate you and ask: Why are they indifferent toward me? Why is there slander and disrespect coming from him? Being hated is not the goal but it may serve as a gage in our faithfulness. We should not be hated for being a pest but we should persist in following Jesus which will certainly lead to people mistreating us. The goal should be faithfulness to Jesus not finding ways to stir people up to anger. To be hated is not the goal but a gage.

If no one hates you it may be time to evaluate your life as a disciple. A disciple of Christ, one living with the Spirit of God which was promised in the New Covenant (Eze. 36:27), will by default (as seen above in John 15) be hated by the unbelieving world (sometimes more noticeable than other times) because our Leader was hated and killed. If we follow him and live with him our fate will look similar. Again the goal is not to be hated but a lack of hatred coming in your direction should lead to reflection:

• Am I so much like the world that they accept me?
• Am I abiding in Jesus?
• Am I heeding the opening verses of Psalm 1 (“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.)?
• Where does my allegiance lye?
• Who’s approval am I seeking?
• Do my values and priorities look like Jesus? Are they being conformed (Rom. 8:29; 12:1-2)?
• Am I pursuing obedience to the clear will of God as seen in the Bible (action verb commands; Rom. 12-15; Eph. 4-6)?

Closing Thoughts

The goal of our God in the New Covenant life he has given us is to make us like his Son (Rom. 8:29). That is the goal of the God who sent his Son, the Messiah, to live and die as the priest we need for the sin of his people. We are a ransomed people delivered from sin, guilt, and death, to be a people zealous for good works. This is God’s goal for us, yet such a goal will inevitably lead to reproach from the world. We ought not seek it but when we do see hatred directed at us for our humble obedience to Christ, we ought not be dismayed. In this we are being made like our Savior as we join in his suffering.

For further reading on this look to the first letter from Peter.