Who
do you hate? Really, be honest. Is there someone that you feel hatred
for? If not, then "Amen" and "Hallelujah", because hatred is quickly
becoming something of a cultural expectation. No, I do not think anyone
would actually say "you have to hate someone", but when you speak to
people and read the news (even the fake news) it is obvious that many
people in the world today take a certain enjoyment in hating. It goes
right along with the desire to be "victimized" that is so prevalent
today (but that is another topic entirely).
You may not have seen it in the news, but apparently a mass-shooting was thwarted here in southern Missouri. A man walked into a Walmart with weapons in hand a few miles from where I live and was stopped before actually pulling the trigger. So far the reports do not state anything particular about motives (etc.) but with the general culture around here I am not fully surprised that he was stopped. Quite a few people around here "conceal and carry" because most have the attitude that we are all responsible to protect each other. Whatever was going on in this man's mind, I find it hard to believe that he was motivated by a deep love for mankind. Even if all he was intending was to "go out in a blaze of glory" that desire has at its root a selfish love that leads to hatred of others.
There
is an explanation that goes with this spread of hatred, but most will
not like it. Our modern hatreds stem from a desire to blame someone else
for our problems. If I have a problem, and do not want to admit that it
is my own fault, then I can salve my conscience by blaming someone
else. Take for example all the hatred that exists in the political realm
today. As each side blames the other for our societal problems, each
side feels a sense of relief because they are making people focus on
someone other than themselves. If we all keep saying "see how bad he is"
it makes it easier to say "if you'll just listen to me then all our
problems would be solved".
In other words,
the more we indulge in hatred of others, the more we lift ourselves up
as little saviors. "He's bad" must lead to "I'm good" and therefore we
fill our pride with more reasons to ignore our own sinful behavior. So
the Democrats hate the Republicans, and the Republicans hate the
Democrats (while both of them have politics wrong!). Blacks hate whites, and whites hate blacks (though neither skin color matters). We seek to hate
someone else because it makes us feel good about ourselves and helps us
to distract from what really is at stake: our need for personal
repentance.
One more proof of this is found
in the enormous number of "hate crimes". This is not to say that more
"hate crimes" are occurring (as though there is a crime which does not stem from some
kind of hatred!), but that more crimes are being labeled
as hate crimes. Why is this so? Precisely because we all know that
hatred is not a good thing; so while our society wishes to indulge in
hate, it has to make sure that the label of "hate" is pointed away from itself. The devil wants us to hate each other, but he also does not want us
to realize we are hating each other, so he seeks ways to disguise the
hatred. Yelling "he's bad" means that you are looking at "him" and not
the one who is doing the yelling. So, naturally, the desire is going to be
there to point to others being hateful (while yourself being the one who is
hateful).
The common practice of hatred
seems to be so deep-seated that we could go so far as to say that people
today "love to hate". You can watch many people's disagreements and see that
they actually find joy in their anger. Our lives must be quite empty if we can find joy in something so evil. As a young boy, I went through some pretty horrible experiences and they made me bitter inside. When I was a teen, there was a period of quite a few years when I became steeped in hate for those people who hurt me. Then I met someone who made me see the world in a different way, and my hate began to fade away. It took years for it all to go, but when it did I found that I "hated to hate".
There is something liberating about loving others, but few people today find it. We have been taught relativism for so long that hatred seems like a virtue to many today. I recall once watching someone scream in fury that another person was acting hateful (all the while ignorant of her own hatred). It may seem simplistic, but let us each seek to love. Let us each seek to let go of our desire to hate others, and let us begin to "hate to hate". We cannot forget that those who live their lives in hatred will never enter into the presence of God, Who is love. As our society reaps more and more of the seeds of nihilism and tries to tear itself apart the only testimony that will make any difference is the love of Christ in us. Will you give that testimony?
