Holy Hatred!

"Hate Crimes Legislation" attempts to make murder more egregious when it is motivated by hate. You might get the impression that hatred always makes things worse. No so, according to the Bible. In Revelation 2:6, Jesus commends an ancient church by saying, "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Jesus considers it an earmark of a healthy church when they have a holy hatred for the same thing He hates.

If hating what God hates is a good thing, it's worth asking, “Are there other things that God hates?” Twenty are specifically mentioned in the Bible: The Lord hates the sacrifice of children to false gods (Deuteronomy 12:31); sacred pillars (Deuteronomy 16:22); those who do iniquity (Psalm 5:5); the one who loves violence (Psalm 11:5); hypocritical or heartless worship (Isaiah 1:14); robbery in the burnt offering (Isaiah 61:8); idolatry (Jeremiah 44:4); those who do wickedness (Hosea 9:15); impure worship (Amos 5:21); evil schemes against others and perjury (Zechariah 8:17); divorce and wrong-doing (Malachi 2:16). In Proverbs 6:16-19, we have a complete laundry list of the Lord’s “top seven” hatreds.

   

There are six things which the Lord hates,
    Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
    Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    And hands that shed innocent blood,
    A heart that devises wicked plans,
    Feet that run rapidly to evil,
    A false witness who utters lies,
    And one who spreads strife among brothers.

This list orbits around two poles: False worship and mistreatment of others. The Lord loves it when we love God and love our neighbors. Here’s the hard-edged flip side: He HATES it when we do otherwise. The Lord finds false worship and false dealings with others absolutely distasteful. So when we can’t stand worship that is fake and compromised, when we are disgusted by injustice and mistreatment of others, that’s when Jesus says, “I can’t stand that either – it’s nice to meet a kindred spirit.”

In these oh-so-tolerant times, it is decidedly out of fashion to break from the homogenized spirituality that has become the norm. Oh, we might get our groove on for some praise singing, maybe even give the preacher an "Amen" now and then, but heaven forbid we develop the kind of fierce passion for God that gets worked up over the things He despises. Where are the lovers of God who share His hatred for what is unholy?

Comments

[Austin]

I have three questions: two general, the other situational.

What is the interplay between anger and hatred? I am asking because it would seem that hatred often incites anger. And, we know that the "anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God." Thus, must hatred be "cool" to accomplish righteousness? Stated differently, what conditions must accompany hatred to prevent it from becoming sin?

My first general question is perhaps illustrated by a situational hypothetical. Suppose a gossip spreads strife in a church. How should hatred for that behavior manifest itself? What are the trappings of a righteous hatred-with-legs in that context?

Also, it's practically dogma by now that one should "hate the sin not the sinner." But, God's hate-list does not seem to make so nice a distinction. It seems to specifically target the AGENTS of that sin. Does adherence to Proverbs 6:16-19 require us to reject the mantra cited above?

[James Fleming]

Austin,

Yes, there would be a connection. It is very evident when Jesus "cleansed" the temple, His state prompted his disciples to recall this passage: "Zeal for Your house will consume me" (John 2:17). But the key is in understanding the difference between the "anger of man" and the "anger of God." The former is centered on the things that men get worked up over, pride, power, pleasure, and reputation. The latter is about the things God hates. We need to be careful. Our sinful self can easily justify anger over "man-stuff" by attempting to label it "God-stuff." And it is easy to start out with righteous anger and have it devolve into unrighteous anger when self get's involved. But I am certain that hating the things God hates will sometimes generate some pure heat.

So in a church where the gossip-mill is churning, holy hatred would get a man off the couch and prompt him to take action to deal with this thing. To keep from crossing the line, he needs to make sure that his method of dealing with sin in the fellowship is guided by relevant passages of Scripture. But his holy hatred would be the fuel that keeps him motivated to carry out steps of confrontation and restoration.

Yes, some of the "things God hates" are people. But it is also true that Jesus was called a friend of sinners! I think the balance lies in discerning that some of the persons on God's hate list are not "one time offenders." They persist in a certain kind of behavior to a point of being defined by it. And the man or woman whose life orbits around something God hates will find himself despised by God.

Remember, too, that right now God is being patient. Someday His patience will end. This is a particularly sobering thought when we think of the after-life. Each man's life on this earth is about determining what defines him. When the definition has been written, he dies. Those whose lives have been defined by the things God hates will experience the full brunt of God's hatred of both sin and sinner when His patience has ended.