¹⁹ “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.

“Hate speech” is a phrase bandied about today. If anyone disagrees with another’s life style, they are accused of hatred. “Hate crimes” are punished more severely than “regular” crimes. The actual event might be the same, but because the crime was motivated by a person’s hatred of another, it becomes particularly heinous. But today, if one disagrees with the modern mantra that “all religions lead to God” or if one disagrees with the homosexual lifestyle, and does not celebrate people for their honesty and courage for “coming out,” then they are considered by the media-driven culture to be “haters.” Tolerance is going to seed, to the point that the Christian perspective is no longer tolerated, and Christians are becoming increasingly hated. To be certain, sometimes Christians are hated because of doing unkind things and being hypocritical, without showing love. But there is much rejection of Christians that identifies with the rejection of Christ Himself.

The great judgment of the prophet Isaiah rings out from 2,500 years ago, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness… ” (Is 5:20). God is not fooled and is not silent. He is watching and waiting, not willing that any should perish in their rejection of Christ and His followers (2 Peter 3:9). And in the meanwhile, He has left the disciples of Jesus to carry on in a world that will hate them, carrying the message of Christ’s love for them despite their sinful rejection of God.

Rejection by the world should not come as a surprise to us if we listen closely to Jesus’ teaching in the Upper Room. If the world thinks highly of us, it is possible that we are so much like the world that they see little difference in us. But Christ has chosen His followers to be “not of the world,” to endure the hatred that comes with the territory of being Christ-followers. Thus, we will at times suffer for our faith in Christ. But to the scattered, persecuted Christians, Peter wrote, “It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1 Pet 3:17). We will suffer from the world’s rejection and hatred of us, but we need to continue to speak in truth and love and not worry about whether they accept us or hate us.

It is this kind of love that will win the lost to Christ. It is this kind of love that will mark us out as being like Christ. It is for this reason He left us here.

Lord, help me fulfill Your purpose to love those in the world without being “of the world.”