Jump Start # 1622

Proverbs 8:13  “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.”

  There has been another mass shooting in our country. Again, it has come from an extremist religion that thrives on hatred and violence. There is no dialogue, discussion, reasoning, or even debate. Those that they disagree with, are killed. Politicians will waste time trying to figure out how to stop these acts, while more and more are realizing that we are in a one sided holy war. It’s like the crusades, but only one side is fighting.

What makes this latest mass murder even more troubling is that it was directed toward homosexuals. The choice of homosexuality is not Biblical but that does not justify the taking their lives and casting them into eternity without faith in the Lord. It is becoming easier and easier to hate those who hate us. This is where the child of God must be careful.

Our verse today is one of several found throughout the Bible that connects God with hatred. That very idea is hard for some to grasp. The loving God, it is believed by most, looks the other way and tolerates anything and everything. Such a warped view makes God weak in justice and it dilutes His holiness. God does hate. God hates evil. God especially hates evil among His people. God has afflicted His people with diseases, opened the earth up to swallow rebels, struck down liars, burned alive those who worshipped Him improperly and allowed foreign armies to take away His people to captivity. God hates evil.

The New Testament reminds us that our weapons are not carnal and physical. In the garden, when Peter stuck with the sword, the Lord told Him to put it away. Our fight is not physical.

Hatred is powerful and dangerous, especially in the wrong minds and heart. The hatred of evil led to the mass shootings in Orlando. To the extremists, what was done was justified and right. Hatred can poison a person’s sensibility, twist their reasoning, and fuel an evil that should not exist.  Hate, like a cancer, can consume a person. It can be the only thing that they think about. It never leaves their mind. It builds and builds until the person explodes.

Hatred can lead us to saying things that we shouldn’t be saying. Hatred can led to rash decisions that are not healthy nor wise. Hatred is found not just in extremist religions, it is everyday in dysfunctional homes. An angry parent declares to her child, “I wish you were never born.” That is hatred. An angry teenager shouts, “Go to Hell.” That’s hatred. The history of most faiths in America, including our fellowship, has been marred by some personalities and choices that were fueled by hatred. There are stories that most would not believe, but they happened. In the midst of doctrinal disagreements about what a church can do, some spit on a preacher that they opposed. There are stories of knives being pulled to kill one that they disagreed with. In one long ago story, dynamite was put inside a pulpit to attempt to silence a preacher. Hatred will lead people to choosing wicked and evil ways.

God can handle His hatred. His character and His nature will keep Him from doing wrong. It is our hatred that we must keep in check. We must be careful. Listening to the constant drum beat of loose tongues feeds hatred. Talk shows can do this. Radical statements can do this. We can get so caught up with the hype that good sense and godliness leaves us. Violence causes more violence. Get enough people involved and war takes place.

The early Christians did not strike back. When arrested and tried for their beliefs they trusted in the Lord. They did not love their lives more than their faith. Their hope was not in world peace but in the Lord who would take them home. The persecutions that took place during the second and third centuries, led to many of God’s faithful being killed. They were assaulted and struck down. But their belief was that even the gates of Hades could not prevail over God’s kingdom. The powerful Romans that were behind those persecutions are not a threat today. God’s kingdom thrives. It has spread to more lands and continues to grow. Someday Isis will be no more. How this will play out and what happens we do not know. They will not destroy every Christian, we have God’s promise. There will be believers on earth when the Lord returns. The Corinthians were promised, “We will not all sleep,” the apostle said, meaning die. We will not all die. Some will be alive and be changed in that twinkling of an eye.

Hatred can be a worse enemy than extremists. Hatred can destroy the goodness of Christ in us. Hatred leaves us bitter, angry and faithless. Hatred turns us to wrong choices. Hatred usually consumes. This may be how Isis is overcome. Their hatred may turn on themselves until they are no more. I have heard that a rattlesnake, when agitated and angry will sometimes even bit itself. That may be what happens to Isis.

It is easy to become what we oppose. We see their hatred and without realizing it we become haters ourselves. Standing for the truth, being bold and drawing a line in the sand, does not mean one becomes mean, aggressive nor ugly in attitude or speech. The opposite of hatred is not tolerance. Hatred, like anger must be watched at all times. It’s like a mean dog on a chain. Be careful and certainly do not release the chain. Jesus was angry. Jesus never sinned. God hates every false way, yet God is holy. Becoming like Christ means a person must learn the balance of these things and not be overcome by them.

These are sad times we live in. Life is no longer precious to so many. These are the days of faith in the Lord. Be strong. Never quit believing.

Roger