Hate (to Hope)

Hate: by Julie Slagter

Where’s the love? I’m beginning to wonder where the love has gone in the country which I live. Everytime I flip on the TV lately, I see hate… I hear hate on the radio and read about it in the news… I witness hate in face-to-face conversations and in public areas….

Hate is all around… government candidates are running hourly ads about how evil their opponent is, talk shows and people in the coffee shop are enraged about the potential of a mosque going up near ground zero, journalists and celebrities are slurring racist comments, people are being bullied, relationships are being torn apart by hurtful words and actions, and the list goes on and on…

I don’t want to live in a culture of hate. I want to live in a culture that listens to each others opinions… respects each other and extends grace. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for a fantasy world and I’m well aware that life isn’t roses all the time. But let’s stop this culture of hate, this extreme dislike of one another.

Consider Jesus Christ, he didn’t give into a culture of hate. He lived a counter-cultural life. In John 4:1-29, Jesus, a Jew, meets a Samaritan woman at a well while traveling through her village. Samaritans and Jews disliked each other, a culture of hate existed between them. This makes it very odd that Jesus would engage the Samaritan woman in any kind of humane conversation. Besides her Samaritan label, she also has a shady reputation. She’s had several husbands in the past and wasn’t married to her current lover. And it’s obvious her own village gossips about her because she was at the well at a non-rush hour time of day.

Despite all these factors and perceptions, Jesus talked to her AND listened to her. In addition, Jesus offered her everlasting life! And then he goes further to break down her stereotypes of worship. He conveys to her that God can’t be confined to a place. He tells her it doesn’t matter where she worships or what she’s called. Economic status, denomination, race, age, political party… doesn’t matter. What matters is ones relationship with Jesus Christ and how one lives his/her life.

And one more thing – the Samaritan woman goes back to tell the village about Christ. She tells them that he knows us all inside and out. God simply wants us to be in relationship with him and for us to trust him, love him, and repent. By grace alone he forgives.

I don’t want to give in to a culture of hate. I want to strive daily to live counter-culturally like Christ. I hope you will too.