Hated by the World

As you journey through life as a Christian, you will experience the faithful, loving pruning of the Father. Through painful circumstances and difficult experiences, God will transform your character like a gardener trims the branches on a vine. He will do this so that your life will produce more and more fruit as you provide the world with a more clear and consistent reflection of the love, joy, and peace that comes from God.To respond to this pruning, you will need to consciously depend on Jesus Christ in a personal way. You will also need to retain and reflect upon his teaching in your heart. As you navigate the challenges of life by acting and praying according to the teaching of Jesus, you will experience what it means to “abide in Christ.” Furthermore, you will become the kind of Christian who loves other believers the way that Jesus loved his disciples when he walked alongside them in this world. You will learn to give of yourself to meet their needs. You will learn to teach what Jesus taught from God. And you will learn to seek out Christian friends to love and serve rather than waiting for them to come to you or to prove that they are worthy.Being a friend to one another as followers of Christ is an important dynamic. It is important because identifying with Christ places you in a difficult position in the world. In fact, when you abide in Christ, the world will dislike you very strongly. Deep within the heart of every person is a desire to be liked by other people. Children and adults both share this strong desire. Sadly, everyone eventually discovers the brutal, harsh reality that not everyone will like you. No matter what you say or do, you will never achieve complete acceptance by everyone around you. Though this is true for everybody in the world, it is especially true for anyone who follows Jesus. That is why Jesus taught his disciples this important lesson as he prepared them to live in a hostile world without him.

The world hates those who follow Christ (John 15:18-19).

Jesus uses the word world (kosmos). It refers in this context to the sinful and corrupt world system comprised of unregenerate people. It opposes God and is controlled by Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 John 5:19; cf. Eph 2:1-3). You can trace this system back to its beginning, when Satan seduced Adam and Eve into departing from the God who made and loved them.In one of his New Testament letters, John taught that this corrupt world system also appeared in an early conflict between the children of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel (1 John 3:12). “Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” Like Cain, the default response of the world is to oppose what is right and support what is wrong. Jesus calls this hatred.The word hate means “to dislike very strongly.” Jesus used this word to describe how the world feels about those who follow him. He explained how the world loves its own kind of people. That’s why a variety of viewpoints can unite against the Christian viewpoint. That’s why a variety of religions, no matter how different, can unite against the Christian faith.If Christ has chosen you to be his disciple, then you cannot have it both ways. You cannot follow Christ with integrity and have the world like you at the same time. When you believe on Jesus Christ as God and Savior, you move from one side to the other.

It hates you because it hated Jesus (John 15:18, 20).

To explain this dilemma, Jesus referred to something he had taught the disciples before – that a disciple is not greater than his master (John 13:16). He had raised this point to teach us that since he, the God of the universe, had taken upon himself the work of a lower-class servant to wash the feet of his disciples, then we should expect to do no different. In this second instance, he raised the point to teach that since he had experienced the vicious hatred of the world, then we again should expect to experience no different.The hatred of the world toward Jesus appears throughout the Gospel of John.

• The Jews persecuted him “because he healed a man on the Sabbath” (John 5:16).
• They also looked for a way to kill him because he claimed to be equal with God (John 5:18).
• They tried to kill him (John 7:1).
• The chief priests and Pharisees tried to capture him (John 7:32).
• They tried to stone him to death on multiple occasions (John 8:59; 10:31).
• They plotted to kill him (11:47-53) and would eventually arrest, beat, whip, and crucify him.

Knowing all the hostility he faced, the writer of Hebrews urges us: “Consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself” (Heb 12:3). It is important that we do this because we have no right to expect that we should experience anything better than Jesus. Paul calls this “the fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil 3:10).To describe this, Jesus used the word persecution. This is a strong word that means “to systematically organize a program to oppress and harass people…in a number of languages the equivalent of ‘to persecute’ is simply ‘to cause to suffer,’ but persecution is also expressed in terms of ‘to be mean to’ or ‘to threaten’ or ‘to chase from place to place.’”[1] This description indicates that the corrupt system of this world does not sit in a passive manner waiting for Christians to cause trouble. It behaves in an active manner, seeking ways to marginalize and exterminate Christians and the Christian faith. That’s what the world did to Jesus and that’s what the world will do to you.

It hates you because it does not know God (John 15:21-25; 16:3).

Jesus also taught that the people of this world will hate and persecute you because they do not have a personal faith relationship with God. He said they will do this “because they do not know him who sent me” (John 15:21). Then Jesus described the very sad situation of people in the world who learn the truth about Jesus but continue to reject him. Though everyone sins by nature and rebels against God as a default perspective, this sin becomes more serious whenever people encounter the clear truth about Jesus and continue to resist. Those who learn the truth about Jesus and have the opportunity to believe on him, but reject him, commit a far more serious sin than those who are born with sin but never hear a clear presentation of the truth about Jesus.The solution to this is not to refrain from telling people the truth about Jesus. Without Jesus, every person will live and die in total separation from God. Therefore, the solution is to present the truth about Jesus to the people in the world whom God has placed into your life. As you abide in Christ, it is your responsibility to become a window through with the world will see God most clearly – through your words and actions. It is your responsibility to glorify God in this way (John 15:8, 16).By fulfilling this responsibility, you will cause two things to happen. On some occasions (perhaps the majority of cases), you will receive increased hatred and persecution. No matter how loving and gentle, gracious and winsome you may be, you cannot avoid this response. Jesus was the most loving and gentle, gracious and winsome teacher that ever lived, and yet he received the greatest hostility. You should expect no different. Thankfully, another thing will happen also. Jesus says, “If they keep my word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20). Not everyone in the world will persecute you. Some will believe on Jesus and continue to follow his teaching, just as you have done.

This should not discourage those who follow Christ (John 16:1, 4).

Why did Jesus teach these things? After all, these truths seem to be discouraging rather than encouraging. Thankfully, Jesus not only disclosed these things to us, but he also disclosed why he disclosed them. He provided these things as a full disclosure beforehand so that we would not stumble when we experienced them.Like the paperwork that describes the side effects of your prescription medication, Jesus describes the “side effects” of abiding in him and glorifying God in a fallen, hostile world. However, though most side effects of your medication carry a small percentage chance of happening, the side effects for following Jesus are more certain. Paul told Timothy, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12).When former friends abandon you, fellow students make fun of you, coworkers talk about you, and your nearest family criticizes or harasses you, then do not be discouraged. Instead, you should remember that Jesus told you this would happen (John 16:4). This is not an unusual problem or an evidence that you are doing something wrong. The same thing happened to Jesus and he told you it would happen to you as well.

You will be marginalized (John 16:2).

Have you ever been expelled from a Jewish synagogue? Unless you are a converted Jew, then probably not. So how does this problem affect you today? One pastor observes:“To be made outcasts from the synagogue meant far more than merely being forbidden to attend religious services. Those who were excommunicated from the synagogue were cut off from all religious, social, and economic aspects of Jewish society. They were branded as traitors to their people and their God and faced the likely consequence of losing both their families and their jobs (cf. John 9:22; 12:42).[2]Jewish people feared being expelled from the synagogue. An expelled Jew moved from insider to outsider status. As such, it became very difficult for him or her to make friends, find employment, and enjoy the finer things of life.Christians living in America today are beginning to taste this outsider status with growing intensity. If persecution were hot sauce, then perhaps our persecution still ranks somewhere between mild and medium. But the needle is rising. For many years, we have considered America to be a Christian nation, and in theory it is. In the backdrop of our nation is a Constitution that is heavily influenced by biblical, Christian values and principles. But though these values are written on paper and stored at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., they are not necessarily written on our hearts.As our nation becomes increasingly antagonistic to the God of the Bible and to the truth about Jesus, we must carefully consider our motives. Is this turn for the worse causing us to grow embittered or discouraged? If so, then we need to remember the words of Jesus. We should also remember the many believers in history and in other nations of the world today who are suffering for their faith. Being “expelled from the synagogue” is uncomfortable to be sure. To be hated and persecuted is not something to desire. But when it happens, we find ourselves in the good company of Jesus.

You may even be killed (John 16:2).

Again, if persecution were hot sauce, then we must recognize that our mild to medium persecution in America falls far short of the hot, very hot, and extremely hot persecution that believers have experienced throughout history and are experiencing around the world today. Did you know that there were more martyrs for the Christian faith in the twentieth century than in all previous centuries combined?[3]From the beginning until now, the world has killed those who follow the truth of God. In fact, of the eleven disciples, all but John who wrote this book died a martyr’s death.

• Andrew was crucified.
• Nathanael was peeled alive.
• James the Less was sawed into pieces.
• Judas the Less was killed by arrows.
• Peter was crucified upside down.
• Philip was hanged.
• Simon was crucified.
• James was beheaded.
• Thomas was pierced from behind by a spear.
• Matthew died as a martyr in Ethiopia.

The writer of Hebrews provides us with a survey of this pattern throughout history in Hebrews 11. He begins his survey by mentioning Abel, who died at the hands of his brother Cain for following the truth of God (Heb 11:4). He ends his survey by summarizing countless, nameless Christians who suffered the same fate or worse. “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb 11:33-38).If you are hearing (or reading) this message, then you have not been killed for your faith. Praise God for that. This means that God has kept you in this world for a purpose – to bear fruit that will glorify God to the very world that is hostile to him. How will you respond to your calling? Will you continue to abide in Christ through the difficulties of this life? Will you choose to identify with and love other believers as friends making your way through a hostile world together, or will you abandon your post because you fear being disliked by the world?

Conclusion

As you consider what Jesus taught about living out your faith in a hostile world, consider this timeless wisdom from the Old Testament: “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” (Prov 29:25). This proverb presents two opposite responses to the pressure that people will place upon you in this world. As I mentioned previously, you have a deep internal desire for people to like you. But which do you desire most? The approval of people in the world or the approval of God?If you most desire the approval of people, whether family or friends, then you will fall into a snare. That is why Jesus taught us to anticipate hostility from the world, so that we would not fall into a snare. The words “made to stumble” refer to this idea (John 16:1). A snare is like a steel jaw trap covered in leaves. When a bear passes by and steps on the trap, it clamps onto his foot tightly. The result is that he can no longer continue his journey. He cannot get to where he was going. He cannot fulfill his purpose. He will die a hopeless, useless death.But there is a way to avoid this trap. You must put your trust in the Lord instead. Jesus described this for us in John 15 as “abiding in Christ.” You must consciously depend on Jesus as you walk through the difficulties of life in this world. You must internalize his words, then pray and act as he taught you to do – from the heart, in dependence on the Holy Spirit. When you trust in the Lord this way, then he will “keep you safe.”Though this does not mean that he will prevent you from experiencing hatred and persecution, it means that he will keep you safe from the trap of seeking worldly approval, which prevents you from fulfilling your purpose as a Christian to glorify God. The Hebrew word means “safe” in the sense of being lifted up high and out of reach of the trap that lies below.

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[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 498.[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 191.[3] Kenneth O. Gangel, John, vol. 4, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 298.