By Rich DuBose
Is there ever a time when it’s OK to hate certain people? What about those who do horrific things—like molest little children? Or murder, what about that? Or, what about the hoards of immigrants who sneak into our country to steal our jobs? What about conniving politicians who lie, cheat and steal? What about people who are narrow-minded and petty? Isn’t it OK to hate them?
If it were left to us, we would have no problem finding reasons to hate certain individuals, groups, or classes of people. But the fact is, it isn’t left up to us. Jesus made it clear to his followers when he said that hate is equal to murder and that we should love everyone, including our enemies (Matthew 5:21-26). This passage in Proverbs is pretty clear too:
“Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow ” (Proverbs 25:18, NLT). That's pretty descriptive and strong.
Jesus' Matthew 5 presentation was iconic in that it set the bar really high for how we’re to treat people, especially those we don’t like. According to Jesus, the most disgusting person we can think of is not to be hated. You may have a difficult neighbor or a disgusting politician in mind that you already hate. But Jesus says, don't do it. Back away from it.
As a German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer struggled with this when Hitler rose to power.
“John Hendrix tells the fascinating story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his fight against the oppression of the German people during World War II. Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who was shocked to watch the German church embrace Hitler’s agenda of hatred. He spoke out against the Nazi party and led a breakaway church that rebelled against [the] racist and nationalist beliefs of the Third Reich. Struggling with how his faith interacted with his ethics, Bonhoeffer eventually became convinced that Hitler and the Nazi Party needed to be stopped—and he was willing to sacrifice anything and everything to do so.” (Published by Amulet Books)
Charles E. Moore writes a piece in the magazine known as the “Plough” where he says, “The four gospels and other early Christian writings seem to teach straightforwardly that Jesus’ disciples should be willing to die but never willing to kill. On the other hand, a just-war tradition going back to Augustine or earlier attempts to explain why, as a practical matter, this one aspect of Jesus’ teaching should be qualified, bracketed out, or suspended until the Second Coming.” 1.
Bonhoeffer was a man of deep spiritual insight, yet he reached the point where he was willing to personally kill Adolf Hitler to stop the miserable war he instigated. How did Bonhoeffer reconcile Jesus’ words with his desire to kill his enemy?
For more insight into his thinking, author, John Hendrix has written a book titled, “The Faithful Spy” wherein he traces the rise of Hitler and the evolution of Bonhoffer’s thinking about how he should relate to him. It’s a “true” novel that mixes historical realities with a gripping retelling of events.
Hating Evil
There is a long-standing belief among Christians that we are to hate evil but not the people committing it. You know, “Hate the sin, but not the sinner.” But what about when evil doers kill innocent people? Shouldn’t they be stopped, possibly killed?
There are plenty of references in the Old Testament where God instructed Israel to kill their enemies before the enemies killed them. It was a matter of survival. Was this the preferred ideal way for God’s people to live? No. But it was a contingency when evil doers could not be reckoned with.
The problem is we are not God, but we often think we are just as smart as God when it comes to knowing who needs to be hated or killed.
It’s one thing for an all-knowing God to take the initiative to guide and protect his people from harm (like we read about in Psalm 91). But when Jesus mysteriously showed up in Mary’s womb, he started a unique assignment that would culminate in him dying for each one of us, even though none of us deserves it. When Jesus showed up, we were all “enemies” of heaven.
God had every right to kill us, but he didn’t.
Today as Jesus crashes into our world to bring grace and forgiveness to all, including those who don’t deserve it, his mission is viewed by many as too radical. All I can say is, don't sell God short. How do you think the song, “Amazing Grace” got it's name? God does amazing stuff!
But there are some things (behaviors and attitudes) that God hates.
What God Hates
Proverbs six outlines seven things God hates and is determined to eventually remove from the earth.
“There are six things the LORD hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.” (Proverbs 6:16-19, NLT).
Note that these all have to do with people hurting other people. God detests this! It isn’t what we were made to do and God’s kingdom will not allow it go on indefinitely. Heaven will be an eternal experience of people enthusiastically and habitually showing compassion and kindness to one another. It will be the eternal “summer of love” that the “flower children” of the 1960’s tried to create, but couldn’t because they were so broken.
Jesus said the most important teaching in Scripture is that we are treat others as we want to be treated. It is referred to as the “Golden Rule.”
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12, NLT).
Make it Count
One thing we know about life on this planet is that it's brief and over too fast. Our days are numbered. Who has time to hate when there is so little time to love?
As the years fly by, we discover we don't have enough time to be joyful and hate, at the same time. There’s not enough time to do both.
In Psalm 90 we find a prayer attributed to Moses, wherein he asked God for wisdom and perception.
“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (Psalm 90:10-12, NLT).
The New King James translation reads, “Teach us to number our days.” Our days ARE numbered whether we learn to number them or not. However, knowing they are numbered gives us a heightened sense of gratitude and praise for our Maker.
No Room for Hate
On April 5, 2021, USA Today published a story about a man in Orange County, California who had been charged with throwing rocks at an Asian woman and her 6 year-old son. The man was upset because they were Asian.
The article went on to recount how the man threw two rocks at her Tesla and broke the windshield. Local law enforcement were adamant about not allowing such behavior to exist in their city and county.
"I refuse to tolerate hate in Orange County," District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. ‘A woman and her child should be able to drive down the street without worrying about being attacked because of the color of their skin.’”
“Spitzer vowed to prosecute the case and others like it to the fullest extent to send a message: ‘There is no room for hate here – or anywhere.’”
Like the Attorney General, God has zero tolerance for hate, which has been banished from his realm. God’s kingdom has no room for walls of separation, racism, antisemitism and discrimination of any kind.
Following Jesus may get us labeled and ostracized from some circles. But I would rather be hated for who I love than loved for who I hate.
The following quotes underscore what we desperately need.
“The darkest chapters of history are burdened with the record of crimes committed by bigoted religionists.” —Ellen White, The Desire of Ages p. 309
"Every day, countless people die or die a little bit for want of warmth: children left alone; underpaid and exploited workers; old people, lonely and forgotten by everyone in the anonymous world of big cities. And every day, thousands of people compensate for their chronic loveless state by all kinds of substitutes: filling themselves with food, pursuing loveless sex, seeking illusionary happiness in the wonderlands of consumerism, or becoming violent" (The Power of Kindness, p. 28, by Piero Ferrucci).
"The Lord wants His people to follow other methods than that of condemning wrong, even though the condemnation be just. He wants us to do something more than to hurl at our adversaries charges that only drive them further from the truth. The work which Christ came to do in our world was not to erect barriers and constantly thrust upon the people the fact that they were wrong. He who expects to enlighten a deceived people must come near to them and labor for them in love. He must become a center of holy influence." – Ellen White, 6 Testimonies, p. 121-122.
“The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and exemplified by our Saviour, are a transcript of the will and character of God.” - E.G. White, The Great Controversy, page 541.
“We don’t fight hate by hate, revenge by revenge, or evil by evil. We fight hate by love, revenge by forgiveness, and evil by the power of the living God. The difference between you and the enemy who persecutes you is forgiveness and love” (Adventures with God episode on “Persecution” from filmmaker Darren Wilson on TBN).
Author and influencer, Jen Hatmaker says, “People may hate us because of Jesus, but they should never hate Jesus because of us. The way we treat others should lead them to only one conclusion: ‘If this is how Jesus loves, then I’m in.’”
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California. Photo is by Mart Production of Pexels.com
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
1 See Richard Hays’s classic The Moral Vision of the New Testament (HarperOne, 1996) and Ronald J.
Sider’s The Early Church on Killing (Baker, 2012).