The Reason Christianity is Hated

"All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Matt 10:22

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."

John 15:18

Those of us who are Christians understand the message of Christ as being that of love and sacrifice. Jesus commanded us to “love one another”. His message was one of relieving the individual of the burdens of life and replacing them with His lighter burden. Even a casual reading of New Testament accounts of Jesus’ acts leads one to believe that Jesus went about doing good wherever he went.

Consider the following examples: healing the paralytic (Mark 2:1ff); healing the leprous (Mark 1:40ff, Matt. 8:28ff); raising the dead (Matt. 9:18ff, John 11:38ff); healing the blind and mute (Matt., John 9:1ff); rescue of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11); feeding the 5000 (John 6:1ff).

His teachings also reveal the care and concern He has for the individual: love for enemies (Matt. 5:43ff, Luke 6:27ff); giving to those in need (Matt. 6: 1ff); forgiveness of others (Matt. 6:14ff); telling the truth (Matt. 5:33ff); the value of human life (Matt. 5:21ff); keeping oneself from vice (Mark 7:14ff); passing judgment on others (Luke 6:37ff).

The internal evidence of the goodness of Christianity is unquestioned. And this is without recognizing the “sonum bonum” of Christianity: the elevation of the believer’s soul to right standing with God through the selfless-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Every act of Jesus illustrates how important man is in God’s sight. Further, Jesus calls us to follow in His very footsteps. Unfortunately that is not how the world perceives our faith. Our actions over the past 20 centuries since Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven have not given the world pause to think the better of us. Rather, in many cases our actions have incited hatred and help invent other religions.

But it is not just the actions of a few well placed provocateurs that have caused immeasurable cruelty in the name of Christ. It is Christ Himself who is the ultimate provocateur in this struggle against evil. Again, the internal evidence of the Christ’s works and words are antithetical to the hatred He has incited. But the hatred persists nonetheless, why?

In reality, the answer is blatantly displayed in the gospel of John. John is observing here an intimate moment during the last hours of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. While in the upper room Jesus speaks to His disciples concerning His death, resurrection and ascension to the Father in heaven. He comments to them that He is going to prepare a place for them so that they can be where He is going. He tells them that they know the way and will follow. Thomas poses the question, “how can we know where You are going, since You have not informed us to where you go?” Jesus’ response resounds in our ears to this very day and it differentiates belief in Him from any other religious figure. He states quite emphatically that, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (Jn. 14:6).” This statement has caused division from that day forth. This statement of singularity differentiates those that follow Jesus from everyone else in the world. Each religion’s claims of exclusivity (or inclusivity for that matter) have to be weighed against this proclamation by Jesus. This statement begs the question of C.S. Lewis who said we must examine the statements of Jesus to determine if He is a lunatic, the greatest liar to propagate the greatest hoax upon humanity, or Jesus is who He proclaims to be (Mere Christianity). But that is another question for another time.

Suppose what Jesus said is true – that He is the exclusive way to God the Father. This would fly in the face of His Jewish brethren and cause quite a fracture in their religious system if it were not squashed. This is indeed what happened resulting in Jesus subsequent trial, beating, crucifixion and death. To the Muslim, Jesus’ proclamation would negate their entire belief system requiring them to “submit” to the requirements of the Qur’an and to the teachings of Muhammad. To the Hindu, Jesus’ words obliterate the need for an entire pantheon of gods and demigods which gives the entire social system impetus. To the Buddhist, the notion of meaning in the afterlife and a pathway there would reduce their system of reaching Nirvana to a heap of philosophical rubbish. The same can be said to be true of every other religion comparing itself to Jesus’ claims. Even today’s overriding philosophy of “many pathways to God” is relegated to the religious garbage heap in light of Jesus’ claims. The better question is why these groups would not hate the Truth as proclaimed by Jesus, since His statement excludes so many from the Kingdom of God. Even though His is a message of love, healing, reconciliation, and exaltation, because of Jesus’ claims of exclusivity there is hatred and derision by those who do not accept, nor understand, them.

How then do we, as Christians, respond to a world so maligned to the Truth we find in Jesus? The logical approach is to “circle the wagons” as a protective measure. But this is not the method Jesus tells us to employ. He says to “go into all the world” to make His Truth known. Many Christians recognize that we are at war with and we must wage this war against the world. The problem is that we have not targeted the true enemy. Many times we see the religious practitioners as the object of our derision. Muslims are not the enemy of Christ, nor are Buddhists, Hindus, or Atheists for that matter. These people are prisoners who need to know the Truth in order to be free of the shackles of their imprisonment. It would be errant to consider them as necessary “collateral damage” in our war against evil. No, these practitioners of religious belief are not the enemy. They are our objective. They are the reason we are at war. Even their religious beliefs are not the object of our hostilities. We must follow Jesus’ example of learning to operate within their system of beliefs in order to reach them with the Truth of Jesus’ message. This must be done in an attitude of care, concern and understanding.

We have an unprecedented opportunity in today’s climate of diversity to move in and out of the canvass of multiculturalism in an effort to explain the Gospel of Christ to the uninitiated masses of other religions. It is incumbent upon us to learn how to develop the skills necessary to convert those who hate our message. But it is their only hope of salvation if we truly believe what we proclaim.