John 15:18-19
“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.”
Hate is a strong word. The actual definition is “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; extreme dislike or disgust.” Have you ever experienced this kind of reaction to the fact that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Christians through the centuries have known the hatred of the world, and millions have died for Jesus. It is said that more died as martyrs for Jesus in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined. Let that sink in.
As Christians, we are to be known by our love for people…yet Jesus told us that the world will be known by its hatred of us. Have you seen that in action? Have you experienced it firsthand? Hatred does not require yelling or an obscenity-laced rant or social media post. Hatred usually finds its home deep in the human heart and mind. You may not utter a single word, but hatred will still well up inside of you and drive your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Hatred is so powerful that Jesus declared it the same as murder when you allow it to take root in your life against another person (1 Jn. 3:15). All of the disciples were executed for their faith except for John, and the same is happening to Jesus’ followers today in terms of the hatred the world has for us.
Sometimes this hatred shows up in the political arena—when you dare to mix your faith with your politics. Take a public Christian stand against abortion, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, or any other immorality in our nation and you will see what I mean. Other times it shows up in your relationships when you drag the bible into your reasoning or simply seek to share the gospel with a friend, co-worker, or neighbor. You can always find it in the media whenever a prominent Christian takes an unpopular stand…or falls due to a moral failure. Finally, dare to say that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that all other religions are indeed false religions, and you will feel the world’s hatred in more ways than one.
Follow Jesus = The World Hates You.
Of course, there is a flip side to all of this. Some Christians never experience the hatred of the world. They make their way down the roads of life without a scratch. Nobody gets mad at them. Nobody pushes back. Nobody walks away. Perhaps the world mistakes them for one of their own? Their faith is undercover. It has no public face. It never comes out to play. I can’t judge someone’s salvation by the hatred of the world, but I do feel compelled to remind them of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
It’s a simple equation, really. When you acknowledge Jesus before the world in word or deed or motivation, the world’s natural reaction will be to hate you in one way or another. If they don’t know that you are an Ambassador of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), they will accept you and treat you as one of their own. Which camp do you appear to belong in?
