Several days ago the Toronto Transit Commission started putting ads on its street cars which asked big questions such as “Do I have an eternal soul?” There was one question in particular which caused a flood of outrage. This question pondered whether homosexuality was good or not. Several people, in responding to this specific question, shared the opinion that Christians are hateful.
I can understand where this view comes from. After all, we Bible-believers affirm that there is a day of judgment coming, that one can reach heaven through Jesus Christ alone and that certain actions are wrong in the sight of God. In some ways, we are not a very “tolerant” bunch.
But are Christians hateful? Sometimes, we certainly are. I found myself responding in hatred and anger just this past weekend. I work at a church which spends much time and energy meeting the needs of the poor and homeless. Without giving you all of the details, I responded very poorly to one individual’s recent demands. And for that I am truly sorry. At times each and every one of us Christians does hate. We are not perfect and have much growing to do. This is to our shame.
To make matters worse, the Church is filled with compulsive haters of all sorts: racists, bigots, chauvinists, those who look down on the poor, and so on. Whether these people are true followers of Jesus or not makes little difference to those outside of the Church. The haters trample on our Lord’s good name.
What concerns me more in this article, however, is not the wrongful hate which so often emanates from members of the Church, but rather the charge that we hate for upholding biblical teachings. Does the Bible create haters? Is a Christian, in the purest sense of the term, a natural hater? Does denying the “goodness” of certain activities mean that we hate those who do them?
At the risk of sounding patronizing (but I implore you to understand the spirit of what I’m writing) we might answer this question by reflecting on a lesson we can all relate to from childhood. As a child walks with her father along the sidewalk she might long to run onto the street (why I don’t know, but children, for some unfathomable reason, often long to do this). At her first attempt, her father would undoubtedly grab her arm and hold her back. If she kept it up he would carry her, give her a lecture or even slap her hand. The little girl would kick and scream and hit – thinking that her father was mean and that he didn’t love her since he was holding her back from her desire. But this is of course the furthest thing from the truth. He holds her back and causes her some discomfort and even pain because he loves her and wants to prevent her from being struck by a car. Love leads the lover to often do things which appear hateful.
To further complicate the matter, the lover will continue to love even when the beloved longs not to be loved. The girl would prefer that her father’s love be withheld so that she could reach the street. The father loves in spite of her insistence that he not love (or in her opinion, hate). This creates vast amounts of tension in our modern, tolerant society, for the Christian continues to love and offer life even though society perceives this love as hate.
Whether you like it or not, Christians are bound to love those around them because they are commanded to by God. That means that we are compelled to share the message of the cross, that we must feed and clothe the poor, that we will strive after justice for the oppressed and that we need to share the Bible’s view on right and wrong. Anything less would be to fail to love God, and to fail to love our neighbour (the two greatest commandments). And while you may not like this, at very least you can understand the love of a parent who loves a child who does not want to be loved.
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