John 15:18 reads:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
This is Christ speaking to his disciples. It has great context and encouragement for them at the time. But it also should be sobering for those of us who call ourselves Christian. Am I hated at least a little bit by the world? If I’m not hated, what should I do?
Christians are often meek, and want to be loved by everyone. We don’t want to cause upset or strife. To a degree, this is good. We also don’t want to be angry or gruff, but should be full of joy (verse 11). This joy should spill out on a constant basis, blessing others with our good outlook, positive disposition, and thankful attitude toward work. We shouldn’t be jerks and justify it as “the world hates me as it did Jesus.”
In what way should we be hated? We can be hated by others for the very joy that we posses. Have you ever told great news to a friend, only to have them try to drag you down? But this is only scratching the surface. We must actively confront sin in our own lives. Perhaps we give up vices that mean we push away friends who revel in their “old man.” Perhaps we actively confront sin in our own household (in a loving way of course) and the confronted person then pulls away or even spews hatred & lies. I think these start to touch the hatred that Christ is talking about.
But I think it goes further. Jesus changed history — he is the center point of history. His disciples went forth and changed the world. Those things were hated in their day, and are still hated. Truly great men find ways to significantly change the world toward Christ, and are hated for it. This is something I should be reaching for. I need to find my little way of changing the world for the better — and this “better” has to be from a biblical perspective, not some modern distortion — and when I do so, I need to be prepared to be hated.
