“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without cause.’
John 15:18-27
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Introduction
The world hates you. This is a lesson so few are willing to accept. Even as Christians, we are still people, and we desire the company and acceptance of other people. So we will soften our words and hold our tongues in order to conceal who we are and what we believe from people we think will hate us for it. But Jesus told us they would hate us, and this is a good thing.
It is good because the world hated Him first, and the world hating us for His sake is an expression of our closeness to Him. Here lies the second pitfall. The world will hate you for being Christ’s. But the world also hates those who do even more evil than them. That is why Peter, in his praise of those suffering well for Christ, gave the warning, “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler.” (1 Peter 4:15) This is said so that no one might have an excuse to justify their evil deeds by saying they are suffering with Christ.
Because of what?
When thinking about the reason behind someone’s hate for a Christian, it is easy to think about the surface-level complaints we see in our culture today. Perhaps it is because “Christians are homophobic” or “anti-science” or “old fashioned.” We hear these criticisms and try to hide anything that will set someone off. But despite those being the stated reasons for someone’s vitriol and hate, it is not the true reason.
Christ tells us what the true reason is: “I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” It has nothing to do with political opinions, considerations about the age of the earth, or our hesitation to use profane language. They hate us because we are not of the world the way they are of the world. They hate us because we are different than they are, fundamentally changed by the Spirit of God and the blood of Christ. They do not hate what you do, they hate what you are.
You will bear witness
And you are Christ’s if you believe, being given the gift of the Holy Spirit of God. Previously, Jesus taught that the Spirit would come as an advocate, making petition on your behalf. Here, He speaks of the Spirit as One who bears witness about Jesus. When your mind is brought to dwell on the Lord or you find yourself going back and back to the gospels, know that the Holy Spirit delights in us discovering and rediscovering Jesus.
The more we think about Jesus, the more we, too, delight in Him. And our desire then turns to sharing in that delight with others. Our work as ones who know the Lord is to share what He has done for humanity with everyone we know, even knowing they will hate us for it. Because it is worth being hated in order to bring more brothers and sisters into the fold where they can also delight in Jesus, gifted by the Spirit.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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