Hatred

“The first reaction to Truth is hatred” – Tertullion.

I have been a believer in Jesus Christ from a young age. I believe in the Bible because I have experienced Christ’s love and unconditional acceptance. As a young teenager, I was drawn to Jesus when it was explained in vacation bible school that He loved me enough to give His life in exchange for mine. As a young girl who felt rejected and unloved, I eagerly accepted Christ’s love without question.

Later I would have questions. And doubts. And I would come to long periods where I wanted to live life my way. But throughout those years when I chose to live life on my own, there was always a small blue flame of Truth anchored deep inside. I always viewed life through the Truth of the Gospel, even when my heart was far away. Gradually God began to draw me back to Him and the more I exposed myself to His Word, the more I began to be changed from the inside and then outward to once again view life with a greater depth and deeper perspective through the words of Scripture.

I remember reading the Bible while still a young twenty-something about how sometime in the future we would be hated by others due to our faith in the Gospel. In my readings, the Bible also referenced future believers who would be beheaded for their faith. How could such an archaic act be in the FUTURE?? What didn’t make sense then, has now become headline news. Fast forward 35 years later and now I have understanding. According to Adam Taylor in “From Daniel Pearl to James Foley: The Modern Tactic of Islamic Beheadings”, the modern era of this terrorist event began in Syria in the 1990’s (The Washington Post, August 2014). These acts have been perpetuated by a group of Islamic extremists intent on forcing their religion on the world through violence. It is now crystal clear to me how these events will unfold, because here we are in a time when these words are in the black and white of our news reports.

The Gospel literally means “good news” of Jesus Christ who became our sacrifice for sin by being crucified on a cross which was the capital punishment of that day. He is referred to as the “lamb” of God as he willingly became the final sacrifice in order to reestablish our connection to God. The Bible says, “For there is one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Jesus Christ” ( 1 Timothy 2:5 NLT). This concept brings great anger to many and Jesus frequently warned us in the words of Scripture that we would be hated for His namesake. Even so, I long ago wondered how in our advanced age of reason and tolerance could a peaceful group of believers in Christ be hated, persecuted, and killed for believing in and sharing “good news”. And yet the Bible predicted this thousands of years ago.

According to Open Doors, Christian persecution is now at an all time high as ever in RECORDED HISTORY! This kind of persecution in considered any level of hostility due to a belief in Jesus Christ. And we Americans are so busy in the details of our lives that we barely even notice. This information is rarely in our newsfeed and yet between October of 2017 through November of 2018, as much as 4,305 people were killed for faith related reasons from the top 50 countries on the World Watch List (WWL OpenDoorsUSA.org).  In addition, 1,847 churches have been attacked, 3,150 believers have been detained or imprisoned without trials, and 245 million are living in places where they experience high levels of persecution.  North Korea, Afghanistan, and Somalia are the top 3 most dangerous countries to be a follower of Christ due to communistic beliefs and Islamic oppression (OpenDoorsUSA.org/WWL). 

Theses countries have a long history of intolerance to Christians, but what about America?  The country founded on religious liberty, freedom of speech, and tolerance for all faiths?  Take a look at our headlines.  We as followers of Christ are fast becoming a “hate group” due to our supposed intolerance and audacity to claim that our Creator has the right to give us guidelines to live by for our protection and safety.

A “hate group” is defined by Wikipedia as “any social group that advocates hatred and hostility, or violence toward members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society”.   I would say that the average American Christian is not full of “hatred, hostility, or violence” when he or she looks to the words of Scripture to direct their lives.  But in this age, disagreement has become interpreted as hate.  Consider the following headline:  “Is the Salvation Army a Hate Group?” (The Christian Post, December 2019).  This article is based on a recent incident where a singer initially refused to sing for an event which was to benefit the Salvation Army.  She initially refused on the basis that she considered them an anti-LGBTQ group due to their position on marriage.

What in the world is going on?  I sometimes feel that I have fallen down a rabbit hole and I am in a strange new world.  Who would have ever expected the Salvation Army to be at the center of such a crazed controversy.  The Salvation Army has a long history of helping all without reference to race, creed, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.  They are unapologetically a Christian organization and base their beliefs on Scripture as evident in their “position statements” (salvationarmyUSA.org).  In this age of political correctness, it would appear that we cannot draw faith based boundaries without being offensive to others.  What we as Christians consider to be protective boundaries from a loving Father in the words of Scripture, the world views as restrictive, offensive, and intolerant.  As a result, hostility grows to the point where one group pushes past the rights of the other in an effort to eliminate the offense and the offender.

Christian persecution around the world has become the biggest human rights issue of this era according to OpenDoors.org, and will continue to increase as our world grows darker and darker.  So, what can we do?  Pray, pray, and then pray even more.  Let us be reminded that the Bible states, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). This helps me understand the madness of our times and to remember that this is a “necessary evil” in order to allow for God’s purposes to unfold.

In addition, there are many nonprofit organizations who work on behalf of the persecuted church behind the scenes throughout the world who could benefit from financial support.  Consider supporting them in their work with our persecuted brothers and sisters as the Bible directs us.  We would then be fulfilling the words of Scripture which encourages believers to “ ..remember those who are mistreated as if you felt their pain in your own bodies”. (Hebrews 13:3 NLT).

And finally, the Bible warns us that it is important to “watch and pray” in order to maintain our faith in the ever growing darkness and deception of our times. It is so easy to get caught up in the details of our lives, get comfortable in this world, and loose track of the bigger picture which can only be seen when viewing world events.   Let us not be caught up in our own issues, but look outward and upward. “Watch out! Don’t let your heart be dulled….by the worries of this life”…..but instead, “Always be watchful and pray….” (Luke 21:34 – 36 NLT).