I hate people that hate other people.

I hate people that hate other people.

If reading the Bible leads you to hating people then you’re reading it wrong.

I love reading the Gospels. I do it for enjoyment not just for work and every time I read them I find something I haven’t seen before. This week I looked for the word ‘hate’. I trawled through the Gospels in my N.I.V. Bible and found 21 references. That’s a lot more than I expected but then I went on to read the passages in more details.

Two verses seem to sum up the what the Gospels have to say about hate – Matthew 5:44 and Luke 21:17. The majority of Gospel verses are either of the “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” variety or the “You will be hated by all because of my name” sort. So it’s either a don’t hate verse or a you’ll be hated verse. Which ever one it is there is not one Gospel verse that tells us to hate other people (apart from Luke 14:26 and that’s about the cost of discipleship and is making a definite point).

So what do I take from my reading about hate in the Gospels – easy – don’t do it but do expect it. We do not have a message of hate to preach but THE message of love and grace and what we have will make us hated.

But you can look around at some, of what the media term, Christian churches and all you find is hate. What Gospel are they reading? Which translation do they have? Westbro Baptist church’s website is godhatesfags.com. Now there is the Gospel of love we preach summed up in a website name, if ever I’ve seen one. I’m trying to secure you’re_all_going_to_burn_in_hell_unless_you_do_exactly_as_I_say_because_I_know_the_mind_of_God_and_he_only_speaks_to_me.com.au. It’s a bit long but it’s got a ring to it.

It seems to me that these churches if hate are projecting the things they hate onto God instead of letting him show them how to love.

You see, I can’t find this Gospel of hate anywhere! In no passage can I find an example of Jesus hating women or blacks or gays or the poor or any other group of people no matter what the disciples think of them. I find him getting pretty cheesed off with the Pharisees (the religious fundamentalists of his day) with their concern for law rather than people and the rich with their drive for wealth (at the cost of the poor) but he doesn’t seem hate them, he seems almost to pity them. He gets very angry with them and calls them all sorts if wonderful and inventive names. (Vipers and snakes being up there). Jesus is also pretty clear and what they should be doing (Luke 11:42)

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced…” but there is no hatred of them.

He even prays for his executioners. Now if you’re going to hate someone I’m pretty sure your executioner would be quite high up on the list. Jesus, however, asks God to forgive them because they are somewhat misguided. Grace and love in action.

And that is what we are called to do – be the here and now extensions of a man who loved everyone, even his killers.

Divine or not (and I say divine), the Son of God or just a decent guy (I’m in the Son of God category) you cannot deny the teachings of this wondering prophet from Nazareth could make the world a better place – if only more people learned the uplifting power of love over the destroying mire of hate.

So if reading the Bible is leading you to hate, you are reading it wrongly. Very, very wrongly. Try reading it again and take a lot more notice of what Jesus says.

(Actually, we would all do well to do that).