September 11, 2009
The Christian Journey
The Gospel calls Christians to love, not hate
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
In August 1979, some friends visited the sisters who had departed the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand in the 1960s to establish a new foundation in southern California. Many Hoosiers have experienced the hospitality of this lovely community of women during the past 50 years.
One attraction almost everyone insists upon visiting is Disneyworld and the sisters kindly oblige us with a personal tour. Disneyworld is an enchanting place with power to transform us into children! One’s cares dissolve as we hear singing birds from “Tiki Land” that seem almost human! We spent hours riding the underground “Pirates of the Caribbean” with fighting sailors and buccaneers. (It was the coolest place to be on a hot California afternoon!)
The Hall of Presidents was awesome, as life-size, life-like presidents stood up, turned to the audience, speaking words of wisdom. President Lincoln’s words have always stayed with me, “My fellow citizens, the United States need never fear any enemy from outside her borders for we are a mighty nation. Our real enemy lives among us and it will be the loss of our moral compass.” President Lincoln then sat down in his typical posture of ageless wisdom.
His words came rushing back to me last weekend as CNN ran the news clip about a Christian minister in Phoenix preaching from his pulpit, “I hate Obama.” (Not having attended the church service, we trust that CNN, along with interviewed church members, provided honest reporting.) Later the minister shouted, “And I can show you in the Bible where it says ‘I have the right to hate Obama.’” I sat shaking my head in disbelief that this Christian minister was preaching a “gospel of hate” in the name of Jesus Christ and that his congregation might believe him! (The point here is not who is president, or what race or religion he comes from; rather, defiling the Gospel of Love.)
That minister’s words conveyed the same hate-filled message the KKK proclaimed when burning crosses at their rallies or in front yards. They desecrated the most precious symbol of the Christian faith, which proclaims the exact opposite of its violation — forgiveness, love, sacrifice, reconciliation. The burning of a cross out of hatred is a mockery to the One who sacrificed his life upon it.
Where did Jesus teach his disciples to hate anyone? I cannot think of one instance. Rather, he said, “love our enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk 6:27-28). There are also to be no limitations on our forgiveness (Mt 18:21-22). Upon the cross, Jesus forgave those who had cruelly tortured and killed him — thus putting to death in his own body the power of sin and evil, by not responding in kind.
To Timothy, Paul writes, “I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and all in auth-ority . . . .” (1 Tm 2:1-3). Where is the hatred in Jesus or Paul that justifies any Christian minister to preach a gospel of hate? This doesn’t mean we can’t disagree with or work to change policies that our government proposes or enacts. However, hate is simply a word that should not exist in any Christian’s vocabulary.
Evil is subtle. I pray people do not use the Gospel to induce more evil mongering in our world. How sacrilegious that would be to our Lord who is the embodiment of God’s infinite love for all humanity.
Does such preaching ever disturb you as “baptized” Christians? As baptized Christians, what can we do to challenge such a gospel of hate?