Hating God Haters

I have a sin to confess. I hate someone. His name is Mikey Weinstein. He is a God-hater. He is president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and has made it his mission in life to remove Jesus from the military. He makes military leaders quake in their loafers. I try to focus my hatred on his actions, but my wicked heart and flesh rise up in hatred towards him.

It is okay to hate the vile actions of men, but we are to love all men regardless of who they are. Hatred towards men never produces fruit; love brings an abundant harvest for the glory of God:

    “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” (Proverbs 10:12)

I don’t want to hate a person; it can literally make me ill. But my warrior spirit wants to battle against God’s enemies. My instinct is to battle, to defeat God-haters wherever they are. I try to tell myself that what I feel is righteous anger, but I know my anger causes sin in my heart:

    “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Satan loves that I hate Mikey Weinstein. Satan uses Mr. Weinstein’s hatred of God to get to people like me. Satan knows that I’m the only one fooled about my heart:

    “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

So how do I overcome this hatred? I have to zoom out and get the big picture, a panoramic view of God’s sovereignty. It’s not up to me to fight God’s battles for Him. I am supposed to stand on the truth of God’s Word, but the battle is not mine. God the Creator, the Omnipotent, is more than capable of dealing with a man like Mikey Weinstein. God has been dealing with such men since Cain. I need to let God be God:

    “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him.” (Psalm 68:1)

I’ve shared with my pastor my desire to pray for God to kill His enemies. He told me that we could pray that God takes action against His enemies, but again I must guard my heart from hatred and the desire to take action on my own. I need to pray that God would rise up and defeat His foes and defend His holy name:

    “Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily. Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; the tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.” (Psalm 74:22-23)

The hard truth I’m learning is that when I hate someone, I do not love God. It’s amazing how many deceived men and women believe their hatred towards man is a result of their love for God and His Word. This is the stance that the infamous Westboro Baptist Church takes when it protests and claims “God hates fags.” The Bible is clear on this dichotomy:

    “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21)

The word brother does not mean just the brethren, those who are fellow believers. The Greek word for brother is adelphos, and it means “brother, fellow countryman, neighbor.” It can by extension mean “fellow believers in the family of faith.” However, if you’re not sure that the Apostle John meant all men and women, we can always turn to Jesus for clarity:

    “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:44-46)

That pretty much clears up any confusion!

The truth is I do not know whom God is going to save. I know He can save anyone. His Word declares such. It also declares that He desires all men to be saved, even though that will not happen. My job is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, before I can do that, I must repent of my hatred, seek God’s forgiveness, and be restored to a right relationship so that I can be about my Father’s business.

I ask that you pray for me on this matter.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2014 David Jeffers

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