A Time to Hate

One of the problems in the church today is that Christians have stopped hating. We have preached about love, and that is good. But there is a need for hate.

God is a God of compassion, but He is also a God of hate. He hates a proud look, a lying tongue and other sins (Prov. 6:16-19). He hated the hypocritical worship of His people (Amos 5:21). Jesus hated iniquity (Heb.1:9). Are we teaching this part of God’s nature?

To be like Christ, we must hate what He hates. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil” (Prov. 8:13). We must “Hate the evil, and love the good” (Amos 5:15). It is not enough to disagree with sin. We must hate sin with a passion. Do we? Do others see that hatred?

Throughout the Bible, God’s people lost this fire. Elijah told the Israelites, “‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word” (I Kings 18:21). In Zephaniah’s day, the Jews were “settled in complacency” while the nation was steeped in idolatry (Zeph. 1:12). In the New Testament, the Christians at Corinth closed their eyes to something even their Gentile neighbors would not tolerate. A man was committing fornication with his father’s wife. What were their feelings about that? Paul said, “And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned” (I Cor. 5:2).

Christians today have lost their righteous indignation. They have listened to the wisdom of the world which says Christians should not display anger. That is nonsense. Jesus showed His anger toward sin (Mark 3:5; Matt. 23:1-33). “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psa. 7:11). If God hates sin, so should we.

We are in trouble when we have no feelings of zeal and compassion and love (Rev. 2:1-6; 3:14-19). We are also in danger when we lose our feeling of hatred for evil.

How do you feel when someone takes God’s name in vain? Do you feel disgusted when you hear about sex outside of marriage? Are you upset that Muslims are trying to take over our country and establish sharia? Remember that the wise man said there is “A time to love, and a time to hate” (Ecc. 3:8).

Kerry

West End church of Christ • August 30, 2026

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