I'm always surprised when anyone hates me. Why would they? I'm a nice guy! Average, by most measures, reasonably clean, not completely ugly, nice to people, do my work, don't make waves. I can see why maybe they don't love me, by why hate me?
I've noticed something, though: Most of the hatred people express isn't toward other people, it's toward ideas. This is especially noticeable now that the Internet has given everyone a voice, and anonymity to go with it. But when people curse Muslims, they really seem to hate the crazy way the world has changed since 9/11; most of them don't even know any Muslims. When they bash gays, they hate something else that gays represent to them; most don't even know any gays. When they flame the president, what they really hate is that the other party is in control. And when they hate me, what they really hate is what I stand for.
That's what I wrote about yesterday, with Cain and Abel. I don't believe Cain hated Abel;
he hated the fact that God approved of Abel and not him.
The defining characteristic of hate is extremism; when I hate someone, then everything he does is hateful. If I'm being reasonable, then I'll see some good even in people I don't like. That's why I'm embarrassed at the way so many of my brothers talk about Obama.
Because it hurts when the world treats me that way, just because I follow Jesus. But John says I shouldn't be surprised. They hate me because I remind them of Jesus, and that their behavior is sin. If they don't hate me, it's because I seem just like them. Which is worse?
No comments:
Post a Comment