Why Are Christians So Hateful?

One of the questions that I sometimes encounter is the question of why Christians are so hateful. Have you encountered that question? Have you asked that question yourself?

The answer to this question may surprise you.

The answer is that they are not. Christians are not hateful.

If in your perception Christians are hateful, consider the following possible explanations.

• Those whom you are judging as hateful are not really Christians.
  
• Those whom you are judging as hateful are being judged according to your own prejudices and hatefulness.
  
• You do not understand as clearly as you imagine the actions of those whom you are judging.
  
• You do not understand the reasons for the actions that you judge as hateful.
  
• The hatefulness that you observed was indeed hateful, but something from which that person or persons would repent if confronted in the name of the Lord and with His Word.
  
• Those you judge as hateful are unaware of how their actions affect you or others.
  
• Your perception of hatefulness is one that views everyone as hateful, with one possible exception, namely yourself.
  
• You hate everyone, including yourself.
  
• You have experienced so much hurt in your life that everything and everyone is viewed with fearfulness of being hurt.
  
• You really don’t have a clear definition of love.
  
• Your definition of love is skewed.
  
• You simply don’t like Christians and refuse to admit that they show love in their lives and actions.
  
• You have adopted a religious or philosophical or world view that does not allow you to see Christians as loving.
  
• You are a hypocrite.
  
• You are simply a moron.
  
• Various combinations of the above.
  

The fact is that Christians are not hateful. Many who claim to be Christians are hateful. But Christians are not hateful. Christians are, however, sinners whose lives do have sinful actions. Some of these sinful actions may indeed be hateful actions. But one who is truly a Christian will acknowledge such actions as sinful and wrong and be turned from them through honest confrontation. While a Christian may indeed display a sinful and hateful action, such cannot continue in a Christian. It is not possible. The Epistle of 1 John makes this as plain as it is possible to state the matter. Read it and see.

Thus, if you honestly believe one who professes to be a Christian to be acting contrary to true love, as the Lord Himself defines it through His own sacrificial life and through His Scriptures, kindly address this matter of concern with that person. But don’t make an everlasting fool of yourself by insisting that Christians are hateful or unloving, because the facts are against you.

If you are one who professes to be a Christian and you persistently hear that you are unloving or hateful, consider the source of the accusation. Then examine yourself in the light of the accusation and in the light of God’s Word. Hear the concern for what it is. If it proves to be false, then simply walk away from it and leave it behind. If it is true, then trust the one whom you confess as your God and receive the change of heart and mind that He promises to work in you through His means of grace. Receive His forgiveness and love for yourself, live in it for yourself, and let it pour forth to all whom you encounter in your walk of faith.

Finally, remember that this is a continual event in the life of a Christian. Hearing the Word of the Lord so as to be turned from that which is false and wrong to that which is true and good, namely, Christ and His means of grace in His Church, this is the life of a Christian. True Christians are a rare find. It has always been so. Thus rejoice when you do find one and embrace that one as a brother or sister.

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