Mark 13:13
“And everyone will hate you because you are my followers”
Have we used this verse to justify harsh words, tones and actions in communicating the Gospel to those around us?
Our methods are often harsh. The hell, fire and brimstone technique and judgemental overtones of ushering people into the kingdom, in my opinion, have done much more damage to the reputation of the faithful than good. Leaving us (even those of us not ascribing to this methods, there are no shades of grey to those on the ‘outside’) as the object of ridicule, if not hatred for those looking on.
But we give as good as we get. Boy, do we know how to do hating well. Hating those who are different from us, despising anyone or thing we see as a threat to our way of life. And of course, if we hate, we can hardly expect kittens and chocolate croissants in return, and so the cycle continues. We hate because they first hated us.
But why did they hate Jesus? Was it not because of his compassion and love for people when it went against the social norms and acceptabilities of the day? For his dinner dates with prostitutes and tax collectors? For being a person of growing influence who came from the wrong post code? For consistently choosing the lift up the humble and tear down the haughty?
Are the real intentions of this verse not that if we are truly following the invitation to follow Jesus, then we will find ourselves on the same level as the lowest of the low, sharing our social status with the outcast?
Despised by the world for who we love, rather than for who we hate.
