Can Hate Ever Be a Good Thing? (Proverbs 6:16-19)

[This was originally posted on my Compelled2 cultural engagement blog.]

At this time of year, we often review the major news stories of the year. Some good, some bad, some horrific. It is a season where the message of love, peace, and joy should leave us wondering how we can help to make this world a better place in the year to come for we are barraged with news stories of tragic acts of hate perpetuated against humanity. When we see attitudes and acts of hate, in the lives of others, we innately recoil in horror and condemn such as uncivilized and unacceptable. In America, we have gone so far as to establish special laws against hate crimes.

So how could we ever suggest that there is a time when hate could be good? Certainly not the kind of hate that harms or diminishes others, but what about "hate" that is motivated by great love and untainted wisdom?  I know it sounds strange. Yet, because God is love (1 John 4:8), and his love is steadfast and endures forever (e.g., Psalm 118:29), there are some things that the Lord hates.

King Solomon, using a uniquely Hebraic poetic style, expresses it this way…

There are six things that the Lord hates,

                            seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Why does the Lord hate these attitudes and actions?

Because they hurt everyone involved. God, in his love, desires what is best and right for all his creatures.

As a result, he fiercely opposes the work of the enemy—who comes only to steal, kill and destroy—wherever it is found.

It is the Holy Spirit, manifesting the love of God, who brings conviction—the knowledge of our own failures—so that we might turn again to the healing love of God in Christ.

At Christmas, we hear the story again, of how God came to earth… not with haughty eyes, a lying tongue, or justified acts of revolution, to accomplish a greater “good”. He did not feel compelled to resort to the devil’s tactics, but instead manifested the love of God.

Do you ever wonder why we can spot hate in others so much better than we can spot it in ourselves? I have. Sometimes I think we point out the failures in others because it is safer than looking at, and dealing with, our own.

• Do we look down on others, or feel entitled to something better than them?
• Are we quick confessors, ready to authentically admit our shortcomings, or is it more natural for us lie to cover up our indiscretions? What’s worse, do we lie to God thinking that he falls for our deceptive reasoning? He doesn’t lie and doesn’t fall for our mind tricks either.
• Do we objectify others for the sake of our own needs? Not many of us would want to literally kill someone else, but when we waste their lives for our own pleasure and comfort we are in some way “shedding innocent blood.”
• How quick are we to do what we can get away with, to profit personally at the expense of others? Is our focus on defending our “right” to do what we want even when it is evil?
• Do we inflate our own qualifications and minimize those of others? Do we curate information to produce the results we desire without regard to accuracy?
• Do we in advancing our own causes stir up an unhealthy distrust among the brothers and sisters? Do we delight in planting fake news, erecting strawman arguments, curating conspiracies, cultivating cynicism, and harvesting division? We hate those “mean girls” and “jealous guys” who make the lives of others miserable. Let us not be like them. God’s purposes are not advanced by tearing down others to exalt ourselves, but by trusting God himself to make our name great.

Thankfully, God doesn’t ask us to do what he won’t do himself. Jesus Christ was the perfect manifestation of the invisible God—in that he revealed the heart, character, and mission of God to mankind. He came humbly not choosing to draw attention to himself. He always spoke honestly never placating people for his own advantage, and he went about healing and undoing the works of death—both physically and spiritually.

His new command was that his followers might “love one another” and thus prove he had been in their midst. While truth divides, Jesus never sowed discord, but instead advocated for forgiveness and reconciliation (e.g., Matt. 5:23-24; Mark 11:25). However, for that to take place perhaps we need a bit more heavenly hate for the attitudes and acts of pride and selfishness that sprout up like weeds in the gardens of our own heart.

What do you think?

One at Christmas (A Poem)

Plan of the ages

Prophetic advent calendar,

Countdown to fullness of time,

God reconciling us in Christ.

Too long we have wandered away

Even rejected his help

Yet Holy Love could not leave us

Lost, dying, alone.

He has come seeking us all.

Now we want to be found.

Light dawns in the darkness as

Enfleshed divinity, is

Revealed, not concealed

To the nations,

Incarnational atonement

Begins among us

Living as fully as we will allow.

Drawn or fleeing

It plainly can’t be ignored,

Things are different now.

Peace invading a strife-filled planet

Reaching out, drawing near,

Holding close

King in infant vulnerability.

Overflowing purity

Born into our gutterish life

Yet purposefully serene in

Undiminished love of the Father

Announced, approved,

So that we might approach.

Emmanuel,

Divine wholeness with us dwelling,

Assuming our weaknesses, struggles, pain,

Nature, will, emotions,

That it, which is us, might be healed, saved,

Reconciled, Redeemed,

Back to the Father’s family.

We are made one at Christmas

Glorious arrival,

Home at last.

© Greg K. Dueker 

Lent and the Garden

In the first chapter of the Bible (Genesis 1:1-2:3) we have the story of creation. Most Christians are familiar with the story of God creating everything in six days. As you recall that passage, what words would you think might occur most often in the creation story? "Earth" would be a good guess. Sure the words "day" and "good" occur seven times. If you take the text of the entire narrative and create a word-cloud with the relative size of the words dependent on how many times they were used you get a graphic like the one below.



Can you find "man" in this Wordle based on the text of Genesis 1:1 - 2:3?

Like the caption says, can you find "man" in this graphic? You may need to magnify your view of this page. Still no luck...I will put a clue at the bottom of this page. However, the relative size perhaps contains an important lesson for us.

I like this graphic because it shows us pretty clearly that the most prominent player in creation is God. In 34 verses, "God" is mentioned 34 times. He is the hero or primary protagonist in this passage. Here in this word-cloud it doesn't take much imagination to picture God as Creator whirling all that he has made above his head like so much pizza dough!

And yet, having taken a step back from our respective western-culturally shaped dominant-culture God-complexes, we can humbly acknowledge that God did what he did to prepare a land for his people. He wisely and lovingly formed environments and then filled them. He did not make what he has made to be empty (Isaiah 45:18).

So when we read further into Genesis 2 we see the cosmic and terrestrial focus has further narrowed to focus on the creation of mankind and his placement in the garden. Here "man" is much easier to find.

So why play with all these words? Isn't it just a waste of time? Perhaps it is, yet I like to think that we are more than just an insignificant speck in the universe. When we allow God to shape us and to place us in the garden he has for us to work, we can be more than we ever dreamed we could be. When we respond to his loving-kindness with joyful obedience, the plot of ground he has given us to take care of will produce amazing fruit that will bless many. When we make ourselves the center of the universe we forfeit the abundant goodness of God's creative work on our behalf and our lives produce only bitter wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-5) and as they say in Israel, "use up the ground" instead of "keeping" it well.

I am writing this during the season of Lent leading up to the church's celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. Our unseasonably warm weather has caused the grass and the weeds to grow vigorously in my yard. It is still February and I have had to start regular mowing and weeding already. It is a picture of Lent. To turn the phrase, it causes me to remember that our days and seasons are borrowed from the Lord and not our own. They must not be wasted. This is a time for each of us to consider the garden of our own hearts, and then for us to collectively consider the condition of the vineyard we call the church. What needs to be plowed up, pruned, hauled away, composted, fertilized, etc. in order to be fruitful in the coming seasons of ministry?

In this life our greatness is not measured by the surveyor's transit or the economist's ledgers, but by the depth of our love. How can we love our community well in these days? The proof of our Christian discipleship is in how well we love each other. Let's use this time leading up to our joyful celebration of Resurrection Day to prepare the soil of our hearts, our families, and our communities for the seeds that the Lord wants to sow, grow, and harvest.

Jesus, in one of his last messages to his disciples before his arrest and death is recorded in John 15:1-9...

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

Sometimes we get impatient and out of line. That's when we need to hold on to our long view... that we are loved and have not been left alone.

[Hint= Trying to find "man" in the first graphic? It is near the center, just to the left of "expanse".]