Why are Followers of Christ Hated?

Wouldn’t you think that a person who did his best to live by godly principles would be loved, or at least accepted, by most everyone? Wouldn’t that fall into the category of reap what you sow: Sow love and kindness; reap love and kindness?

However, we see so much hatred directed at Christians. In many countries, imprisonment or death can result from simply speaking the name of Jesus or possessing a Bible. Although we don’t experience such severity in our country, persecution of people living their lives according to godly convictions does exist. Christians have had their businesses shut down, have lost their jobs and livelihoods, and have often been verbally or physically attacked—all because they were following their consciences to abide by the teachings of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how kindly, humbly, or respectfully they conducted themselves.

Thirty years ago I participated in a Life Chain, a peaceful and prayerful event whose mission is to be a voice for the unborn. Several churches joined together to form a line that wound along the city sidewalks. We silently stood facing the traffic, not blocking businesses. Many held signs; all prayed. My nine-year-old stepson stood beside me. I don’t remember if I had a sign. I do remember expressing my immense gratitude to God that Mark and his brother had been given the opportunity to enter the world and live the lives God had planned for them.

Into this peaceful scenario a car slowly passed by with the passenger window rolled down. A woman looked out, directly at me, and screamed venomous words that pierced my heart. I don’t remember much of what she said—only something about how dare I bring my son out there—but I have never forgotten the viciousness with which she attacked. There was such hatred. But why? I was simply standing there, silently representing the presence of Jesus.

In varying degrees, we will experience attacks against us when we act on our convictions and stand up for God’s truth. It should not surprise us (as it did me 30 years ago). In fact, the apostle John said, “Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). And Paul said, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), endured scorn and mocking for the Lord’s sake (Psalm 69:7, 12). He said, “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me” (Psalm 69:4).

Such animosity was because David recognized God as the King of Israel. When David became king, he followed the ways of God rather than rule his own way. That should have been celebrated by the people. But instead, those who opposed God hated David.

Jesus explains where the hatred comes from. He spoke of himself when he said to Nicodemus,

“¹⁹Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20).

Two words are important to understand here. Darkness is used figuratively to mean “the principle of sin with its certain results” (HELPS Word-studies). In other words, the darkness men love is anything opposed to God’s nature and all the deeds it leads to. And expose is not simply to make visible. It means to convict (Strong’s Concordance), “to convince with solid, compelling evidence . . . to prove wrong” (HELPS Word-studies).

Who wants to be proven wrong? Our human nature resists being told we’re wrong about anything. It’s humiliating and shameful. It says something is wrong with us or we’re not as good as other people. Human nature says, “I want to live the way I want, and how dare you tell me I’m wrong.” But Jesus came shining into our world through the lives of his followers (Matthew 5:14-16), revealing the great divide between our actions (darkness) and his righteousness (light).

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus:

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Ephesians 5:8-11).

When God rescues a person from his life of darkness and he begins to live in a way that pleases the Lord, it causes two things to happen. It brings conviction on those who remain in darkness. It also brings hatred upon the one living as a child of light. Jesus told his disciples, “All men will hate you because of me” (Matthew 10:22).

Hate is closely tied to fear. Our title question could just as well be, “Why are followers of Christ feared?” In 1 John 3:20 above, Jesus not only said the one who does evil will hate the light, but also that he will avoid the light “for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”  The light of Jesus is both hated and feared.

The people of Canaan, a nation that totally rejected God, feared the Israelites, a nation God formed to be his light to the world. Rahab told the Israelite spies that “a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you” (Joshua 2:9). They had heard how God had miraculously brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and also how he had more recently helped them destroy nearby nations. Rahab said, “When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11).

Recently I came across a scripture that helped me understand why the enemies of God had such melting fear. Moses was recounting the time when God instructed the Israelites to engage those nearby nations in battle and take their land. The Lord said to Moses, “This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you” (Deuteronomy 2:25).

It was the Lord who put that fear on the nations that opposed him. The fear came when they heard the reports of the Israelites’ unbelievable victories. On its own, Israel was not a mighty nation. They often lacked numbers, experience, and equipment. Rather their strength was in God, who went before them and fought their battles (Deuteronomy 1:30). The other nations feared this power that was beyond their understanding.

The Lord continues to put fear on the people who oppose him—fear of the light of Jesus that shines through his followers, a light so powerful it reaches into and threatens their ungodly way of life. They may quietly melt and tremble in fear inwardly. Or they may express their fear outwardly in a meltdown of anger and hatred, attempting to destroy the bearers of that light any way they can.

But remember that Jesus said if we live godly lives, we will be hated (Matthew 10:22). And he encourages us with his reminder that he was hated and persecuted first (John 15:18, 20). Why should his followers not experience the same? I know it doesn’t sound like fun, but it is worth it. For Jesus also said,

“¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

Scripture quotations are from NIV.

Commentary notes are from Bible Hub. See Resources.

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