Wow. Jesus pulls no punches.
I’m reading Luke this morning, and there it is right in chapter 14: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
And yet it should be fairly obvious that a man who spends a great deal of his time telling us about God’s love – one whose entire mission is summed up in “For God so loved the world…” – is not calling us to actually hate people here.
But it does bring one to ponder, doesn’t it? Solomon tells us there is a time and a season for everything. His list in Ecclesiastes is quite extensive. So sure, there must be a time to lower the boom, right?
But let’s not forget the incredible potential for so much misunderstanding when we talk to others about this and so many other passages of the Bible. We are all imperfect vessels – and more narrowly, imperfect communicators. There are always nuances and complexities to everything we’re trying to say and do. We’re all a jumble of life and circumstances and situations and contexts, and that includes both when we speak and when we listen.
So, when we hear Jesus calling on us to…hate? It’s so shocking, it might make us forget “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Or who, exactly, our neighbor is. While Jesus gives us a very famous story (the Good Samaritan) to explain, we cannot overlook the fact that our neighbors include our father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters; with all of their complexities and contexts of life – different ears and eyes and ways of experiencing the world than our own.
It’s in these cases that it’s especially helpful to consider what Peter says. Christians should live their lives prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks the reason for their hope, but they must do it with gentleness and respect. Because in their hearts, they’re honoring Christ as holy: not as some spiteful, hateful god, demanding unrelenting obedience; but as a savior who obeyed God in our place because we could not.
A Christian should reflect the Spirit of the one whom he follows, and that Spirit is assured to yield the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” in their lives. Not once in there do I see “confrontation” or “aggression” or “condemnation” or “judgement.” But there is an important factor that we must not forget. Contrary to what many who quote Matthew think, Christians are indeed called to judge – but judging only with the measure they themselves would wish to be judged; and even more so, only that they may be discerning with the people within the church who claim Christ. This is important in that it protects the name of God from accusations of hatefulness and hypocrisy. Oh my, how the church has failed here.
The bottom line with Christians is that we are to reflect the love of Christ in all we do and say. From there, we let God himself take care of the rest. He is the one who knows exactly the inner-life and emotions of everyone involved in the transaction. To believe that we ourselves are the ones to push anyone over the finish line is foolishness. We are far more likely to be the ones blocking the way.
And that’s absolutely frightening. But it leads me to one conclusion. We cannot afford to be anything other than kind, loving, and caring; giving of ourselves to others. To be anything else is to work at odds with God’s intention for us in the lives of those around us.
And that includes fathers and mothers, wives and children, and brothers and sisters
