The world today sees Christians as full of hate. They say that Christians hate homosexuals, Muslims, transgenders, people of color and anyone else who isn’t like them. If we are to believe what the world says, Christians are the most hateful people in the world today.
Having spent most of my life around Christians and church people, I can honestly say that there are some Christians who hate some people. There are even some Christians who hate some people who are in some of those groups. There are also some people in some of those groups who hate Christians. In fact, there are probably more of them who hate Christians, than there are Christians who hate them.
But just where is all this hate coming from?
First of all, our society has been redefining the word hate, just as it does with many other words. The word “hate” used to mean “a feeling of intense or passionate dislike for someone.” That’s a pretty good definition. But today, society is saying that if you don’t agree with someone, you hate them. That’s a whole different definition, turning what once wasn’t hate, into hate.
Actually, that definition turns a lot of things into hate, which really aren’t hate. What those who are pushing that definition don’t realize, is that the definition they are pushing speaks more about themselves, than anyone else. They call others “hateful” because they don’t agree with those other people’s view of life; thereby calling themselves hateful at the same time.
But are Christians truly hateful?
If we’re talking about Christians as a group, the answer is no. Christianity isn’t about hating people and Christian pastors don’t teach to hate. Christians as a group don’t hate gays, transgenders, Muslims, whatever political party they don’t agree with, or anyone else. They may not like them; they may not agree with them; but they don’t hate them. If anything, they ignore those that they don’t like. That’s about as bad as it gets.
But What About Sin?
There are a number of things that the Bible refers to as “sin,” running the gambit from lying through murder, with homosexual activity, adultery, stealing, gluttony, debauchery, unforgiveness and a whole host of other things in-between. God has defined these things as sin, because they prevent us from being holy. God’s desire is for all of us to live a holy life; but He recognizes that we fail in that.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
True Christians understand sin as being something we are to avoid and most make some effort to avoid them. This is not to say that Christians always succeed in avoiding sin. The truth of the matter is that we are all much more capable of sinning, than we are of avoiding it. growing into holiness is a process which takes our entire lives. Even then, we never become fully righteous.
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” – Romans 3:10
It is God who has defined what is sin and what isn’t. Pastors and other preachers who preach about it being sin are merely doing their job; teaching and encouraging people to avoid sin. That isn’t hateful either. If anything, it is an act of love; helping people to avoid those things which God has deemed unworthy of them.
If we look at the things that God calls sin in the Bible (and there are a lot of them), we will find that they are things which are not to our benefit. In many cases, they are things which are harmful. Adultery, for example, destroys marriages. There’s nothing beneficial in that and those who are harmed the most by it are usually the children. Anyone with a true sense of social responsibility can see this as harmful to children and should take a stand against it, even without God calling it sin.
Yet we are all sinners, Christians and non-Christians alike. The difference isn’t that Christians are “holier” than anyone else, because they don’t sin; but rather, that Christians have acknowledged their own sin and their need for help in overcoming it. Because of that, they have accepted the saving work of Jesus Christ dying on the cross in payment for those sins.
Any time a Christian speaks of sin, they are giving a warning, not condemning someone. Those people are condemned by their own sin and the Christian is warning them about how dangerous that is. They warn people, because they want to see them saved, rather than going to hell.
But if God Loves People, Why Does He Send Them to Hell?
Many people make the mistake of thinking that God is sending people to hell. The truth is, the devil is the one taking them to hell. He doesn’t want to go alone. God, on the other hand, is trying to keep people out of hell, which was never created for them. He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be with Him in heaven, rather than going to hell.
For God so loved the world that He Gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:16-17
That word “perish” refers to going to hell, while the term “everlasting life” refers to being in heaven, with God, for eternity. That’s God’s desire and why He warns us of sin. Sin separates us from God, keeping us from being in heaven with Him. The Gospel message isn’t one of condemnation; but rather one of hope, as it said there, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world.” The Gospel message or any talking about sin, isn’t about condemning people; it’s about warning them for the ultimate purpose “that the world through Him might be saved.”
Christians are to Love
What makes this all seem even more insidious is that Christians are commanded to love, not to hate. We are commanded both to love one another and to love our enemies. What other religion or system of belief in the world tells their followers to love their enemies?
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35
But I say to you who hear; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those why curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. – Luke 6:27-28
If we look at the word “love” in both of those passages, we find that it is the Greek word “agape,” referring to the kind of unconditional love that God has, not just common, human affection. It is interesting that Jesus taught loving both other believers and enemies with the same sort of love.
People struggle with the idea of unconditional love, because it is strange to us. it is not within our nature to love unconditionally; we always expect something in return. Even most marital love is conditional, with a tendency for both partners to hold back, until the other meets certain requirements. But that’s totally different from what Jesus is saying here. He is literally telling us to love those people, not just when they do deserve it, but when they don’t deserve it. We are to love in spite of how they are acting, not allowing their actions to affect our love. That’s hard.
It becomes even harder, when we are accused of hating, while we are making every effort to love. Yet, some people never bother to look beyond their own prejudices, seeing what others are doing and what their motivation is. They prefer to make the accusations, knowing it will make them feel better, if nothing else.
A number of years ago, the LGBT+ community held a “Gay Olympics” at the same time as the summer Olympic games. My three adult children, along with a group of other people, went as well, setting up a booth in the same facility that the event was taking place in. Their only purpose was to show love to the people who had showed up for the event. They talked to those people, put on shows for them, danced in the streets and gave out thousands of t-shirts. Those they were there to see were astounded that Christians were there, not to condemn them, but to love them. They had been told for years that Christians hated them; but now they were seeing for themselves, that the hate wasn’t there.
Perhaps the whole idea of Christians hating others is just like this. People have been told that Christians hate them and have accepted it as an article of faith. Rather than seeing the Christians for who they are, they apply this judgment to them, declaring them hateful, before even seeing what they do. They don’t see love, because all they’re looking for is hate.
Just What is Love?
People may not interpret Christians’ actions as love, because they have a different idea about what love is, than that which the Bible gives us. The word “love” can be rather ambiguous, especially since we only have one word for love in the English language, and we use it for everything.
- I love my wife.
- I love my dog.
- I love my car.
- I love football.
- I love tacos.
Obviously, nobody loves their dog and their wife in the same way… at least, I hope not. Yet we use the same word, mostly because we don’t have another word to use. Yet none of those types of love can be used to describe the kind of love that people think Christians should have.
What most people refer to as “love” in a relationship can better be described as “lust” in a romantic relationship and “coddling” in any other type of relationship. They expect those who love them to give them whatever they want and go along with whatever they believe. This is where the idea that disagreeing with someone is “hate” comes from. “If you don’t agree with me and give me what I want, then you must hate me.”
But coddling isn’t what the Bible calls “love.” In some cases, it can be seen as the opposite of love. When we don’t discipline a child who needs it, the child thinks we love them; but the Bible says that we hate them (Proverbs 13:24).
Fortunately for us, the Bible provides us with a clear definition of love; one which we can use to determine whether someone is acting in love or not.
Love suffers long (is patient) and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7a
More than anything, this definition of love is all about looking out for the other person; what’s best for them. When Christians look at others, who are living in sin, they aren’t focused on how “bad” that other person is; but rather, how much that person needs Jesus, just as they themselves do. They want to help the other person meet Jesus, so that they can receive help for the problem of sin in their life; just as they themselves have received that help. That’s their expression of love.
The truth is, those who are Christians and those who are not are speaking two different languages, making it hard for them to understand each other. Those in sin, are saying that the Christians are full of hate, because they don’t understand their expression of love. They expect the Christians to change their expression of love, to match their own. But God has given the Christian the definition of love they are supposed to use. Casting that definition aside, to accept one that makes others happy, would end up being sin, because they would be “falling short of the glory of God.”
Christians can’t change to satisfy the world and still remain Christians. Nor can they accept the world changing the Bible to meet their own needs. Doing so, would be to deny their faith. The world can’t stand this, as it points out that they aren’t perfect. So, they blame Christians for their own faults, calling them “hateful” and other names. In reality, it is those doing the name calling, who have the hate.