DON’T BE SURPRISED WHEN YOU ARE HATED

 

 

If you are serious about Christ, you will be hated. Why? It means that your first concern is not trying to fit in and to be accepted by the crowd for whatever motives. If Christ is first in your life, He will require you to stand against the ways of man and even against the decisions of your own brethren.

 

This conflict between righteousness and self-interest has been at the heart of the  human experience. The one who seeks to please God above all else will inevitably meet with persecution

 

·       Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright. (Proverbs 29:10)

 

·       Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13)

 

There is an enduring conflict between the comforts and desires of man—even those desires which seem to be wholesome—and the Word of God. If we decide to put God first, we will experience this conflict. Therefore, Jesus warned us to be prepared for the inevitable:

 

·       “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. hey will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.” (John 16:1–4; 15:18-20)

 

We are also to regard persecution as blessing:

 

·       “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10–12)

 

Even when Israel believed that their prophets were messengers sent by God, they still persecuted them when the prophet’s agenda didn’t align with their own:

 

·       “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets’…Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, (Matthew 23:29–30, 34)

 

This had been God’s indictment against Israel, which had killed their own prophets:

·       The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15–16)

 

The Prophets of Israel weren’t killed because they weren’t godly men, but because they said things their brethren didn’t want to hear. Therefore, according to Jesus, we shouldn’t be surprised when our own reject us:

·       Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake…(Matthew 10:21–22)

 

This will even happen within the “Church”:

 

·       And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (Matthew 24:10–11)

 

Why are we hated? This is an important question. The world tells us that they hate us for a variety of reasons – We are “judgmental,” “hypocrites,” and “haters.” Admittedly, it is easy to find fault with the Church, since it is made up of injured of and broken people, the lowest of the low (1 Corinthians 1:26-29), people like me. However, their criticism and disdain of the Church becomes more deadly when the Church wallows in it. As a result, many Christians now believe that we must overhaul our way of doing church and even of being Christians. Therefore, we must progress so that the world will accept us.

 

Diagnosis must precede prescription. Consequently, it is important to understand the Biblical reasons that we are hated. We must first understand the problems accurately before we can address them. We are hated, not because we are imperfect but because the world perceives our righteousness. King David had experienced this very thing:

 

·       But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good. (Psalm 38:19–20)

 

Even though the worldly assure themselves that they are good and worthy, on a deeper level, they know the truth that they are evil. Consequently, man is always trying to prove himself worthy and hate those who are more righteous than they:

 

·       We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. (1 John 3:12–13)

 

As a result, we are a stench to the unsaved:

·       But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14–16)

 

Why are we a fragrance of death? Because they are aware that they are perishing according to God’s judgment:

 

·       Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)

 

All of this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t examine and even judge ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:30-31) and even our churches. However, if we do not see who we are in view our Biblical context, we will internalize the world’s condemnation, which will turn us against ourselves.