Hated

When I was growing up, my mom used to correct us whenever we said we hated anything. She would lovingly say, "Erica, hate is a very strong word." I find that these days, hate is thrown around just as much as love is. I love you, I hate you. I love that, I hate that. They are important words that are used so frequently that we forget their actual meaning. Words are powerful and we are foolish to forget that. However, I'm not here to talk about words.

Recently, I have watched the world turn on people, calling those who don't hate, haters. I have read many an article about equality and love and acceptance. Except, usually those articles leave out one group of people. Those Christians, they hate everyone. I'm not going to defend Christians everywhere because I know that the Church and Christianity as a whole have made mistakes. They have not always promoted the love of Christ as they are called to. I find it frustrating when critics roll all Christians up into a stereotypical ball however and call them haters. Really?

Our church weekly gives free food to the poor by hosting our regional food bank. During thanksgiving, the people in our church sacrifice their own Thanksgiving's with their families to work all night prepping and making thanksgiving for the needy and elderly people in our community. Every year we host summer outreaches to tell people we love them and are there for them. Our pastor preaches love and acceptance every week from the pulpit, inviting people to open their hearts and minds to the possibility of a God who loves them. My husband has spent half of his life sharing the love of God with people. Not condemning or pointing fingers at them but simply sharing the truth that God loves them and wants them. 

Haters. 

We have seen people saved from lives of abuse and drugs and families restored just because they decided to believe in a guy named Jesus. The only place I have seen hate promoted is from a media who is bent on twisting the truth of what true Christianity really means.  

The promotion of hate against Christians has begun. Do I get it? At first, I can honestly say I didn't understand it. I have never tried to hate anyone. I have always tried to love and accept people because that is what Jesus did for me. Have I made mistakes, absolutely. Have I been ignorant, yes I have. However, the nature of faith in Jesus is not to stay the same but to love more, to learn more, to sacrifice more. My prayer lately has been, Lord, reveal to me any areas in my life where I have acted out of hate and not out of love. 

What this comes down to is, do I accept sin or not? The answer to this question is no. I can't. Jesus accepted sin when He allowed all of the sin of the world to be placed on Him through His death on the cross. He didn't condone it. Every time He healed someone, He declared, Go and sin no more. When He was confronted with the woman caught in adultery, He addressed hypocrisy but saying, You that are without sin, cast the first stone. They all walked away and then He looked at the woman and declared, Go and sin no more. I'm not here to point out people's sin, but I'm not going to accept it either. I can't accept my own sin why would I accept anyone else's. That is why I'm going to be hated.

The bible says in John 15:18,19;  If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If 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.

When I chose Jesus, I chose not to belong to the world anymore. Not to go with the flow or walk the broad road. Rather here I am, on the narrow road. Here I am holding on to Christ. Here I am embracing the truth that the world hates me. My acceptance and worth doesn't come from what the people around me think, but what God thinks. As infuriating as it is to watch Christians placed on a negative pedestal and "crucified" for what they believe in, this is normal. This is reality. This is what it means to be hated. I never thought I would see the day in my own country where this would be the case but now that its here, I have begun to understand. It has strengthened my resolve to do two things. To believe more confidently in Jesus Christ and to love people more. I am done fighting with people. Done trying to prove anything. I'm done getting up in arms. If Jesus said I would be hated, then the idea that everyone is going to accept me is a boldface lie. So I'd rather be hated and in love with Jesus, then loved and lost. 

Matthew 5:10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs