I do not understand. I never have. I guess I never will. Why some hate mongers calling themselves Christians promote hate aimed at some people in society who need the love of God most. Such people cherry pick sins and the people who commit them to lash out at in fury, hatred, rage, and condemnation.
Twice in the past week I heard a different version of the same story from two different people. Both talked about a religious group, I dare not call them a church, who confronted some sinners and told them they should all be lined up and killed. Please tell me where you find Jesus using such hateful language toward sinners. Go ahead. It is not there. The harshest words Jesus spoke was to the religious, self-righteous, hypocritical, legalistic, and hateful religious rulers.
It is easy to lump people into categories and judge them from a distance. It is another thing to get to know those individuals, to cultivate a relationship with them, to engage with them in spiritual conversations, and to earn their trust and the right to be heard. Admittedly this is not easy. In such relationships it is often two steps forward followed by three steps backward. It is slow going. It requires persevering love. If our job is to evangelize the lost, which way do you think is more effective? Holding a sign filled with hate, screaming hateful things? Or loving people where they are, prayerfully, patiently, boldly, persistently, sharing truth?
In John 13:34-35, Jesus commanded us to love one another. He also informed us that the world would know that we are His disciples by the fact that we love one another. Some of the meanest most hateful people I have ever met have been church members. Liars. Gossips. Judgmental. Pious self-righteous hypocrites. On the other hand, some of the sweetest, kindest, most generous, and loving people I have ever known have also been church members. They are compassionate, merciful, filled with the love of Jesus, and gracious.
It makes my blood boil when people mispresent God to the lost. This past week I spent time with a self- professing atheist. One of the things that turns him off to Christians is the hate. I had to admit that it is a problem. Christians often misrepresent Jesus to the world.
Hateful Christians who judge others so often fail to see the sin in their own eyes clearly. See [Matt 7:1-5] They fail to note that their own sin is just as offensive to God as the pagan's sin. Hatemongers too often forget, but for the grace of God, they too could be bound in wickedness and deceived into a life of debauchery. They ignore the truth that Jesus rescued them from profligate living in the same way He longs to do for sinners who do not know Him.
I once talked to a janitor who worked at my home church in the hall that shook me up. I have never forgotten that conversation. Roy was more than a janitor. He was also a worship pastor and a street preacher. He talked to me about his ministry with drug addicts, gang members, and prostitutes. What he said that day is tattooed on heart and mind. He said with tears in his eyes, "They can't get to Jesus because of the church. We get in their way. Because we judge them, don't love them, and hate them. They cannot get to Jesus because of the church." That conversation happened twenty-four years ago. It still rings in my ears. God convict us, lead us to repentance and forgive us.
For all the good we think we do under our steeples, how many languish in the shadows on the slippery slope of sin that leads to eternal damnation. How many will never darken the doors of our buildings because they know they will not be welcomed. May we represent the true Jesus of love, compassion, mercy, and grace to people who need it most.
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