Hatred

               “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as 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. (John 15:18-19)

 

                I’m reading a book about the armor of God as described in Ephesians 6, so you are forewarned that I’m likely to address that subject again at some point. But I haven’t actually reached that part of the book yet. There are other subjects that should probably be discussed here, but today, I want to begin with the reason we need armor.

             One of the things that bothers me about the way some Christians – and some non-Christians -- talk is their insistence that the devil is out to get them. The devil this, the devil that, or at the very least his demons this, his demons that. It seems to me that we human beings are more than capable of damaging ourselves. We don’t need the devil to tempt us to do something that destroys our lives, we’re champions in that sport. Why would a demon or devil think that someone as worthless as I am in the scheme of things waste its time on someone like me? I mean, if it sees me across the street from its real victim and has a few seconds, I can see it coming after me, but …really? Me?

             But today, I find myself wondering about the nature of hatred. If love is an unquenchable, self-sacrificing desire for what is in the best interest of the be-loved, is hatred an unquenchable, self-sacrificing desire for what is in the worst interest of the be-hated? I can see how this would lead to the opportunity type of attack. I could see how it could even lead to a dedicated and ongoing series of attacks, if the demon decided I was worth the bother. And I grant that there may be enough devils/demons out there that one from the lowest of ranks might be assigned to me. Poor thing. It probably spends most of its time playing solitaire.

             Today, however, I have to wonder whether I’m misunderstanding hatred when I think that way. The solitaire player is detached, just doing his job. That’s like Sam and Ralph, the cartoon sheepdog and wolf who punch in and out on the time clock, civil co-workers when off the clock. That’s not hatred.

             Hatred is more like pulling the wings from a fly and sewing them back on so they can be pulled off again. And if the wing-pulling isn’t with the hopes of hurting me, there is Another involved. Even if they don’t hate waste time hating me, I may be an opportunity to hurt the One who loves me. Imagine your enemies attacking two people you love. One is a trained soldier, and the other is pathetic – mentally, emotionally, or physically impaired, or a child. Which would cause more pain to the One who loves?

             We all need to take this hatred more seriously. This doesn’t mean that we should be focused on or obsessed with the hatred. Our focus and obsession should be God and His love, but at the same time, we should be aware that those who hate exist, and their hatred is real.