You Will Be Hated by All Because of My Name
You Will Be Hated by All Because of My Name
By our Baptism, we are called to join in mission to spread God’s love across the planet. So, why does Jesus say, in Mathew 13:13, “You will be hated by all because of my name”? And why, does it seem, we see this hate and persecution ramping up in our times, while evil is expanding at such an alarming rate?
Of course, when Jesus says “all,” He is not referring to every person in existence, but by “all types of people.” But, why would messengers of God’s love receive this hate-filled reaction and desire to persecute? The answer is simple. Those who hate, hate the message that contradicts their own contrived message. That makes the followers of God a “dangerous threat” to the followers of the world and the devil.
However, it is not those who just “profess” to be followers of God who pose a threat. It is those who actually love God to such a degree that they could not dream of contradicting the will of God.
As the expansion of evil wars against God, and persecutes God’s “true followers,” we have choices. There are three primary choices that every soldier must make:
- HIDE (Akin to Draft Dodging): We can avoid facing it, and fill our lives with as many distractions as possible, noble as they may be, to keep us from admitting that evil is, in fact, expanding all around us, and that we are called to engage.
- SURRENDER: We can believe evil has won, as we give up and crawl into a corner in the fetal position. Or, worse yet, we can defect and join ranks with evil (because it’s trending and popular?).
- GET IN THE FIGHT: We can allow ourselves to be clear-eyed about the great expansion of evil in our times and, in righteous anger (directed at the devil), get in the fight and believe that, with God, all things are possible. Ultimately, this is about saving souls.
Sadly, in this age of high-speed messaging, the enemies of God are winning. Why? Because too many of us are choosing hiding and surrendering.
Therefore, no longer does evil feel it needs to move slowly and under-cover. In our times, in a brash and reckless way, evil is very intentionally and willingly showing itself: enacting laws for unrestricted abortion up to birth; the refusal of lawgivers to protect life even at birth; the expansion of euthanasia; the complete denial of God’s creation of male and female as based upon biological fact and natural law; the indoctrination of our children in our schools and libraries.
What makes all of this evil even more transparent, are the very open and hostile verbal, legal and even physical attacks on those who oppose these evils based upon millennia of biblically based religious beliefs. Believers in God’s absolute and undeniable Truth are under attack as never before. As the hiding and surrendering prevails, even clerics are made outcasts, cancelled by their superiors, to appease the persecuters.
In love, stand for God’s truth! Stand with those who are not choosing to hide or surrender! Stand with God!!
