One
of the advantages of being a Jesus-follower is that people will hate us for no
other reason other than our trust in Jesus. Now you might not see this as an
advantage, but it is. It helps us identify those who need the Gospel message
lived out before them. They are the ones who need love.
It
is easy to love someone who loves you, or someone who is at least not unkind.
But when we strive to love someone who hates us, our reliance on the power of
the Holy Spirit has to increase. Loving someone who hates us is beyond our
capacity, so we must draw in close to the LORD and draw on His strength. If
love were easy, more people would be doing it. But love goes against our
natural sinful tendency. We naturally are selfish.
Cain,
of Cain and Abel fame, murdered his brother. He did it because he yielded to
the same sin-tendency that exists in all of us. Apart from the grace of God
working in our lives, we would all be murderers. Or we have at least felt like
killing someone.
So
why do non-Jesus-followers hate Jesus-followers? It is simple. The love we show
pierces their hearts with conviction. We stand firm in our convictions. We are
not willing to compromise. We won’t bend to their will. We won’t follow them in
doing evil. This is why in the places where persecution of Christians happens,
the church grows. It often grows underground, but it grows. And when it grows,
believers are empowered to share their love.
We
see the animosity toward Jesus-followers in our culture today. You can believe
any foolish thing you want, as long as it isn’t historic Christianity. You are
welcome to believe a modern twist, a shell of the Gospel, devoid of its power,
but don’t hold onto the reality of sin and the resurrection. If you do that,
and proclaim that through love, you end up in the cultural crosshairs.
But
if you become Gumby, flexible to a fault, unwilling to stand up for anything,
then you won’t become the object of this hatred. But the minute we stand for
something and are unwilling to compromise (which is code for giving up our
conviction and believing what they believe), then the hatred flies our
direction. We get labeled. Laws get passed against our beliefs. We get fined
and jailed.
Have
you noticed what happens to Jesus-followers in Muslim countries? They get three
choices: convert, pay a tax, or die. And the tax is designed to ensure that the
Christians are second-class citizens. They lose their jobs. Families kick them
out. And this is what happens under ‘tolerant’ Islam.
Our
response, and the response of many living under hatred like this, must be love.
Jesus loved and we must also love. And this is hard, impossible really. And
yet, this is our calling. Love our enemies. No wonder the world hates this kind
of love. They expect their actions to bring a similar response. They expect
hatred coming back toward them. So when they see love, it infuriates them.
Let’s
make a few people angry today by loving them!