Why Do They Hate Us?

“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.” (John 15:18-19)

As a follower of Christ, have you ever experienced hatred from people you know? From co-workers? From friends? How about from your own family?

That hatred cuts especially deep when it comes from the people you love.

It's an extremely difficult thing to deal with. How can they hate me? Don't they know how much I love them?

They hate you, because they hated Jesus first.

Why?

Jesus said:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:18-20)

When the Light of the World came into the world to save people from their sins, they hated the light because they love the darkness. They hate Jesus—the Light of the world—because they practice evil and don't want their evil deeds exposed.

When Jesus called us as His people, He said, "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)

The light shines in the darkness of this wretched world. Light exposes sin and man's need for God's salvation. But men love darkness rather than light.

However, much of today's modern 'Christianity' promotes a watered-down, sugar-coated religion that says, "If I just love people and be nice, not making waves, certainly not offending anyone, they will want what I have."

That kind of 'easy-believism' is both unbiblical and ineffective.

No one in the Bible ever came up to Jesus or any of His disciples and said, "Gee, I want what you have!"

Quite the contrary. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 19 saying His people will say, "We will not have this man rule over us!"

If Jesus and His disciples had practiced the kind of sugar-coated Christianity that many people do today, they would not have been persecuted, crucified and killed.

Faithful followers of Christ down through the ages have been sawn in two, fed to lions, and burned alive as human candles, having been dipped in pitch and set ablaze. Do you think that nice, tolerant Christian people who 'just loved others', and not offending anyone, would be persecuted and murdered in such horrible ways?

Absolutely not.

The message from God in Acts 17 proclaims:

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Repentance and judgment.

That's a very unpopular message today. But is was at the heart of the message 2,000 years ago, and it still is today. Jesus Christ the Savior—God almighty who is Love—will judge the world in righteousness sometime in the near future. And He commands all men everywhere to repent—to turn from their sin, and turn to Him.

And all men means all. Straight or gay. Buddhist or Muslim. Black or white. Male or female. Young or old.

Jesus the Savior did not come to a world that did not need saving.

The Bible says of mankind, "There is none righteous; no, not one." (Romans 3:10)

Modern Christianity tries to look like the world, play the same music as the world, and attract people to 'want what we 'have' using worldly methods.

That doesn't point people to Jesus. It just promotes an unbiblical, worldly, religious sub-culture. And that is not going to save anyone. Oh, they may want to join your cool Christian club, for awhile. But there is no repentance, new life, or salvation in that kind of dead religion.

Most people love to hear John 3:16. God so loved us. He gave for us. Everlasting life is ours.

“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.”

But the message of love is clear and conditional: only if we believe In Him shall we not perish.

How about those who do not believe in Him? That part of the message in John chapter 3 from Jesus is almost always left out of the conversation:

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

There it is again; judgment, condemnation. People don't want to hear that. They say that is bigoted, hateful, and intolerant.

Jesus the Savior did not come to a world of people who have no need of saving. A Savior saves. The name, "Jesus" means;

"He will save His people from their sins."

People hate anyone who would suggest they are a sinner and have need of saving. That's why they hate Jesus.

And that is why they will hate you—if you truly are a disciple and follower of Jesus. 

If you share what Jesus said, that He came into the world to save people from their sins, then you are a disciple of Christ. 

But if you just want to be in a cool Christian band, or go to a cool church and make Jesus cool to people so they will "want what you have" but you never love people enough to mention that God commands all men everywhere to repent; turning from their sin, and turning to Him, then you're really not a disciple of Jesus.

You are not following Him, you're just a benign spectator. 

...And no one ever crucified, tortured, or burned alive a benign spectator. 

Think about it.

No one hates a benign spectator.

—God is love and Love Never Fails.