A comment in our blog on May 19, 2010, from a contributor who has, ‘come to hate West Malaysian political activists with an intense passion’, has caused me to reflect upon my own understanding of this subject. I am confining my reflections to just two aspects of this vast topic:
1) I MUST EXPECT TO BE HATED
Jesus Christ said:
18″If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged 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. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. (John 15 : 18-21, NIV)
Of course, I must be careful not to give good reasons for other people to hate me because my words or my actions have been displeasing to the LORD whom I seek to represent.
2) I MUST AVOID HATING PEOPLE (my brothers and sisters in the human family, created in the image of God)
20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. (1 John 4: 20-21, The Message)
These instructions are so easy to understand, but sometimes so difficult to put into practice, especially as I am a political activist who, like the God whom I serve, HATES BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION!
The Micah Mandate is a Christian-based public interest advocacy ministry that seeks a transformation of our nation through justice, mercy and humility.
June 1st, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Thanks Peter. It is so refreshing to read what you have written after having read all the vitriol of someone ……words just fail me.