Hated

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.


7 οὐ δύναται ὁ κόσμος μισεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἐμὲ δὲ μισεῖ, ὅτι ἐγὼ μαρτυρῶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πονηρά ἐστιν.

I've always found this verse to be a bit convicting.  I don't really enjoy being hated.  Jesus didn't seem to mind.  He loved the world and knew that it hated Him.  Why did it hate Him?  He testified about it that τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πονηρά ἐστιν.  No one likes to hear that his works are evil.

This is the lot of the preacher.  He is going to have times where he ruffles some feathers because he stands behind the truth of God's Word.  In fact, this is really what should happen to every professing Christian, but it will certainly happen to the preacher as he unpacks God's Word for his congregation.

This passage also explains why someone walking in holiness upsets those walking in evil.  He doesn't have to say or do anything.  His very presence will upset folks.  Take someone who used to drink to excess and bring him back to the bar.  His old friends likely will have a hard time with him because he silently convicts them of what they're doing in their drunkenness.  The same goes for the man who repents of gluttony and then hangs around his old friends.  His newfound fitness silently convicts them.

Yet we are to be witnesses.  Let us not shy away from our stories if God has transformed our lives.  However, let us also be careful because of the truth of this verse.  Whether we say anything or not we are going to get some hatred from the world.