HATE 1

HATE 1

Huh?  Yeah, hate!

We do get to.  Yep, we really do.

OK, maybe that’s a little strong, but hate is a vital part of our lives in Christ.

Huh?

Mat 6:24  "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate (as the opposite of agape) the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Rom 7:15  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (detest – actively).

Rev 2:6  Yet this you have: you hate (detest – actively) the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Hate is a choice.  It is a choice between devotion and despising.

Hate:  μισέω   miseō

Thayer Definition:

1) to hate, pursue with hatred, detest

2) to be hated, detested

μισέω

miséō; contracted misō, fut. misēsō. To hate.

(I) With the acc. of person, usually implying active ill will in words and conduct, a persecuting spirit (Mat_5:43 where it stands as opposite to agapáō [G25], to love, in Mat_5:44; Mat_10:22; Mat_24:9-10; Mar_13:13; Luk_1:71; Luk_6:22, Luk_6:27; Luk_19:14; Luk_21:17; Joh_7:7; Joh_15:18-19, Joh_15:23-25; Joh_17:14; Tit_3:3; 1Jn_2:9, 1Jn_2:11; 1Jn_3:13, 1Jn_3:15; 1Jn_4:20; Sept.: Gen_37:4; Lev_26:17). By implication, meaning to persecute (Rev_17:16; Sept.: 2Sa_5:8; 2Sa_22:18).

(II) With the acc. of thing meaning to detest, abhor (Joh_3:20; Rom_7:15; Eph_5:29; Heb_1:9; Jud_1:23; Rev_2:6, Rev_2:15; Rev_18:2).

(III) Specifically as the opposite of agapáō (G25), to love, or philéō (G5368), to be a friend to, it is equivalent to not loving, loveless, to slight, with the acc. of person (Mat_6:24; Luk_16:13; Joh_12:25; Rom_9:13; Sept.: Gen_29:31; Deu_21:16; Mal_1:3).

(IV) To love less. In Luk_14:26 Jesus contrasts love to family with love to Himself, "If any come to me, and hate [miseí, pres. act. indic. 3d person sing.] not his father, and mother, and wife, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Here Jesus asserts His deity. Every member of man's family is a human being, and the love shown to humans compared to the love shown to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, must be so different that the former seems like hatred. The meaning of miséō as loving less is made clear in Mat_10:37, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." In His commands for loving other human beings, the Lord never said, "Love other human beings as you love Me," but "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mat_19:19). When it comes to loving God, however, He is placed in a unique position (Mat_22:37-38).

Syn.: apéchomai (G567), to refrain.  Ant.: agapáō (G25), to love; philéō (G5368), to befriend.

Hope that helps!

Hate, where appropriately directed, is necessary for the believer’s growth.

Heb 1:9  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."

We are to hate – sin – temptation – corruption – anything that does not glorify God.

But, exactly how far do we take that? 

1Jn 2:15-16  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (16)  For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (ESV)

1Jn 2:15-16  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (16)  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (ASV)

Let’s look at “lust.”

επιθυμία

epithumía; gen. epithumías, fem. noun from epithuméō (G1937), to desire greatly. Strong desire, longing, lust.

(I)           Generally longing (Luk_22:15; Php_1:23; 1Th_2:17; Rev_18:14; Sept.: Pro_10:24; Pro_11:23; Dan_9:23; Dan_10:3, Dan_10:11).

(II) More frequently in a bad sense, irregular and inordinate desire, appetite, lust.

(A) Generally (Mar_4:19; Rom_6:12; Rom_7:7-8; Rom_13:14, "for its lusts" [a.t.], i.e., to satisfy the carnal appetites; Col_3:5; 1Ti_6:9; 2Ti_3:6; 2Ti_4:3; Tit_3:3; Jas_1:14-15; 1Pe_1:14; 1Pe_4:2-3; 2Pe_1:4; 2Pe_3:3; Jud_1:16, Jud_1:18). The lust of the flesh means carnal desires, appetites (Gal_5:16, Gal_5:24; Eph_2:3; 2Pe_2:18; 1Jn_2:16). Also epithumíai sarkikaí (G4559), carnal, fleshly (1Pe_2:11) referring to worldly desires; desires of the eyes (1Jn_2:16); polluted desires (2Pe_2:10); "lusts of deceit" (a.t.) means "deceitful lusts" (Eph_4:22); "youthful lusts" (2Ti_2:22); see Sept.: Pro_21:25-26. All these refer to the desires which are fixed on sensual objects as pleasures, profits, honors.

(B) Spoken of impure desire, lewdness (Rom_1:24; 1Th_4:5).

(C) By metonymy, lust, i.e., an object of impure desire, that which is lusted after (Joh_8:44; 1Jn_2:17; Sept.: Dan_11:37).

We are to “hate” sinful lust.  Note that it is not the things/people that we lust over rather it is the lust itself.  Why?  People and things are neutral.  Being bad or good depends on their use and how we relate to them. 

Hemp – marijuana – makes great rope and good textiles – it is good.  Smoking it is not. [It could aptly be argued that smoking it is indeed good - - especially in a medicinal sense – to help relieve pain.]

Desiring my wife is good.   Desiring someone other than my wife is not.

Desiring to grow in Christ is good.  Desiring to do so in order to lord it over others is not.

Lust, the lust we must hate is any desire which weakens our affection for and devotion to Christ.  It can be raging and it can be subtle.

If in a difficult circumstance I think, “If I only had X X X, everything would be OK,” then I am placing X X X on the same level (or close to the same level) as Christ.  If, indeed, He and His grace is ALL I need, then He and His grace are all I need, no matter what my circumstance.  To think I NEED something to augment Him is to think in dangerous places.

And this kind of thinking is SO easy to do.  We can do it and never realize it.  So, maybe we begin to understand Paul?

Rom 7:24  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Now there’s an attitude we might want to cultivate. 

We also take a cue from Paul when he writes:

Php 4:11-13  Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  (12)  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  (13)  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The key that I can do all things through Him.  But, we get frustrated by the confusion surrounding “all things.”  

“All things,” is NOT all things!  It is all things “through Him.”   See, not all things.  There is a condition.  All the things I need (or need to do) must come through Him.  What does not come through Him I must not need.  Right?

Jas 4:1-4  What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  (2)  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  (3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  (4)  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

OK, few of us murder – but we do fight and quarrel.  Why do we fight and quarrel? (I do not mean calm argument or debate)  We do so because of our lusts/passions.  We want them met, when they are not met we get angry – sinfully so.  Having passions/lust which provoke us to fight and argue comes from ---- wait for it ----- our friendship with the world.

My mentor and Master’s advisor in seminary owned a TV.  A small, old, black and white TV. (this is in the 80’s)  He (and his family) kept it in a closet.  If they heard a worthwhile program was to aired, they hauled it out, watch the program and then put the TV back into the closet.  Why?  Because TV  does two things.  First, seeks to sell you something by convincing you that if you just have that item, your life will be better.  Second,  to communicate (subtly and not so subtly) the agenda of the unbelieving world, to infect you.  Yet we (and I do mean we) can’t get enough of TV. 

Somehow we have convinced ourselves that a righteous voyeurism is OK.  We don’t “do” the bad stuff but we can watch it.  Now I’m not going to go off on some rant about pornography or violence.  I don’t have to.  Those are not subtle and for the most part, we avoid them.  But, it does not take a Tsunami to create a disaster.  A small and steady leak can undermine a dam and destroy everything downstream.  That’s TV. 

Let me ask you.  Who defines “funny” for you?  What do you catch yourself laughing at?  Remember Red Skelton?  How about Abbot and Costello?  How does their funny compare to today’s?  

How many shows have you watched where the “good guys” do something wrong and/or illegal to beat the “bad guys” and have us cheering them on?  Ever watched “Leverage”?  Remember the “A Team”?  Let’s not forget “24.”

No, I won’t continue to rant about TV.  I wish I had the guts to toss mine or at least drop the cable and be more selective through Netflix, Hulu or DVD’s.  But, I don’t have the guts.  That bothers me – how about you?

Oh, sports nuts?  You don’t get off any easier, even if you do try to ignore the timeout and halftime shows. 

My point is this.  Everything the world offers is intended to generate lust.  To form it, feed it and offer satisfaction for it. 

Somehow – we have to hate that.