Articles
Why the World Hates Us
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“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jn. 15:17-18)
The world does not know us, because it did not know Him. . . . Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. (1 Jn. 3:1, 13)
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From the beginning of time, the world has had little use for followers of God. From Abel's murder at the hand of his brother, to the martyrdoms of Paul and Peter, and even today in some corners of the world, to be a believer is a death sentence. The world despises with a burning hatred those whose hearts and lives are devoted to God.
This irrational hostility reached its zenith, of course, in the career of Jesus. In His own words, His mission in the world was to "bear witness to the truth" (Jn. 18:37), and it was that commitment to truth that got Him killed. His teaching exposed the selfishness and haughtiness that dominated the society of His day. He modeled what He preached, unmasking the hypocrisy of His critics. That's why they had to eliminate Him.
If we commit to following Jesus, it should come as no surprise that we will share His fate in some measure. Jesus has called us "out of the world," which means that we are no longer "of the world." Our performance is not perfect like His, of course; but it's sufficiently different to evoke the same response. "Do not marvel if the world hates you."
In our lifetimes, we have lived through a narrow window of history that has afforded us a remarkable degree of religious freedom. We have equated "the world hates us" to having a door slammed in our face when passing out gospel meeting flyers. Believers in other ages and in other countries today laugh at our weakness.
We are on the verge of finding out what it means to be hated by the world. In our own society now there is a growing visceral contempt for everything that Christ and Christianity stand for. We no longer enjoy the privilege of a "live and let live" approach to religion. If we hold to the Biblical teaching on gender and sexuality, for example, we are not just ridiculed for our belief; we are vilified as sociopaths whose influence must be crushed. The hatred directed at us is public and intense--including, ironically, labeling us as "haters," the ultimate absurdity.
When you signed up to be a disciple of Jesus, you bade the world goodbye. Whatever comes next--whatever comes next--know that it's part of the package. Be strong, and look to the reward beyond.
--David
