Does The World Hate You?

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. [John 17.14] 

Does the world hate you?

How about this... Does the world hate the Church?

First off, let's understand that the hate Jesus is talking about, is the same hate He was experiencing: it began with simple debate but escalated into conniving public hatred. The hate Jesus was speaking about was the hate that would land Him on the Cross after being humiliated by severe beating and verbal abuse.

Based on the description above, I think most of us (in the Western World, anyway) cannot say the world hates us like it hated Jesus. And, while that may be a relief to most, it is also a serious indictment upon that which we call "faith" today.

The hatred Jesus spoke of was hatred for the Truth. It is the Truth that the world hates - and all who adhere to it. What is the Truth?

Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. [John 17.17]

The Word of God is Truth. The world hates the Truth - the world hates the Word of God. "God's people" are grossly ignorant of the Word of God, so, the world does not, because it cannot, hate them, because they are in just as much error as the world (if "God's people" do not have the Truth of the Word). 

The hatred and persecution Jesus spoke of will never come to a Word-less Church.

Think about it. As long as the Church is ignorant of the Word, persecution will never really become the widespread event Jesus predicted. The end of time will never commence until that persecution does (see End Times). Could it be that the True Church (the Church full of Truth - the Word) plays a role then in the timing of the return of Jesus?

How does this go along with Jesus' statement about the quantity of true believers?

But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.14]

As Jesus only spoke Truth, then we must understand that His return won't be for as many people as current dead religion would have us think. The "few" Jesus spoke of earlier in His ministry should be translated as the "hated" in the later John 17 time of His ministry.

Let's clear this up then...

If we are not hated, then we are not in the Word. If we are not in the Word, then we are not the "few." If we are not the "few," then we are not God's.

On this most demonic day of the year (Halloween), this should literally scare the hell out of us. But, what do we do? We think it's cute that kids and adults are dressing up in celebration of God's enemy in full embrace of hell itself (for the record, I didn't see this indictment coming either... It's not what I intended to write about).

Like it or not, anyone not made holy by the Truth of the Word of God is inadvertently a pawn of the world and its leader, Satan, and therefore, not hated or persecuted. They are, in fact, one of many taking the broad way to the wide gate of hell and not one of the "few" on the difficult road to the narrow gate of life in God's Kingdom (Matthew 7.13-14).

Father, may Your people distinguish themselves from the world by the Truth of Your Word as they make it their priority to know Your Word (the written Word) and Your Son (the Living Word), Jesus Christ. May we understand that the true gauge of our success in this effort is the amount of hatred we experience from the world while unexplainably enjoying real joy (John 17.13). So be it.