What a Chapter!

October 1, 2009, 8:37 am by dc-agape.

John Chapter 15 – 16:4

In my last two posts I wrote about being fruitful and the meaning of love and obedience knowing Jesus’ purpose, the greatest love, and being chosen.  In this post I want to write about the about being hated, having hatred, and killing in the name of YHWH.  This chapter is packed with good examples of what a follower of Jesus is supposed to do to the world, experience in the world, and display to the world.  But this chapter does one other thing…it makes it obvious to the non-believer that Christian ≠ follower of Jesus. I will discuss each one, and let you decide.

John 15:19 If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you.

From this verse it is clear that a difference exists between Christians and the world.  This difference is so great, that hatred is the only word that can describe the difference.  The world’s hatred of Christians was quite obvious up until the reign of Constantine (320 AD).  At this point in time the persecution of Christians nearly ended.  They may not have been like, but there were no longer being killed for their faith.  This would pretty much indicate that slowly Christianity and the world are becoming one.  In modern times, most of Europe and all of the Americas are Christianized.  So how is it that the world now loves Christians?  One must also remember that almost all of Africa has also been Christianized.  Only in the Middle East and some parts of Asia are Christians still hated.  Reading John 15:19 again, “if you belong to the world, it would love you as its own.” Guess what?  The world loves Christians!  And from Jesus’ own words that means that Christians belong to the world.  The spiritual implication of this concept is straightforward.  Christianity no longer teaches something contrary to the sinful world.  Does this mean the world is no longer full of sin?  Or does this mean that Christianity is now full of sin?  If Christianity truly taught something that was contrary to the world, this verse (John 15:19) would mean something.  Instead, at least in the United States, two groups of people are hated: Atheists and homosexuals.

To the non-believer it is very odd that those that were hated are now the ones who hate!  Nowhere in Jesus’ teachings did he require hatred.  There is one verse:

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.

Two things about this verse should be taken into account.  First it is considered a hyperbole, the feelings the disciples should have forged worldly relationships compare to the relationship with Jesus should be as great as hating one and loving the other.  The other thing that should be considered is that in no way can this verse be linked to hating sin.  In fact, one other verse describes one a disciple will hate:

Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”

This is as close to teaching hatred as Jesus gets.  But neither of these verses teaches the disciple to hate the non-believer (sinner).  Yet that is exactly what occurs in the modern Church.  Neither Atheists nor homosexuals are openly accepted in any but a few non-traditional Churches.  Very odd for religion based on love, don’t you think?

In fact, Jesus warns about hatred and killing done in the name of YHWH:

John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

Matt 24:9-11 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated but all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betrayed and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Today, both of these verses can be clearly seen actually happening.  Christians have been known to put people out of their church and to kill in the name of YHWH.  At the same time, many false prophets have risen up and have deceived the masses.  At this point in time, the haters and deceivers cannot be separated from the disciple of Jesus.  The combination of these two verses and the fact that these warnings have occurred leads the non-believer to one conclusion: will the true disciple of Jesus please stand up!  The non-believer can certainly not tell the difference between the hater, the deceiver, and the disciple.

All in all, this chapter in the Gospel of John has been unique for this experiment.  It may be having worked through four different books in the Bible I am beginning to see something that is not visible to most readers of the Word of God.  On the other hand, focusing on the positive teachings of Jesus, instead of the vitriol taught in the Church, may be influencing my perspective.  Many of the positive things that Jesus taught were not new, but the way he combined the different aspects of love, hope, and spirituality was certainly different from the old religions and from the Old Testament.  It is truly a shame that modern Christians have lost the focus on Jesus.  Instead, some focus on Paul’s teachings and others attempt to justify the Old Testament with the teachings of Jesus.  I guess this should not be unexpected, out of the Christian Bible only 10% of the Word of God is directly from Jesus.  And even that in 10%, half of it is mostly repetitive.

Posted in Love, Gospel of John, State of Mind, Readings | Print | 2 Comments »