If the World Hates You, Keep in Mind that it Hated Me First: John 15:18

Biblical Series #7

John 15:18

18  If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

In the classic medieval tale, Saint George and The Dragon, when George killed the dragon he could have had anything he wanted from the King of Silene. The king offered him “as much money as he could count” and the princess he saved from the beast’s clutches hand in marriage. George instead said no to both offers. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”

It is quite easy from a modern scope to view George’s decision of declining these rewards as foolish or misguided. Why not take the prizes from the deed you have completed, from the dragon you have vanquished? You have earned them, why not take them?

We look at it that way from a position of pride, a position of expectations. We expect that because we do something we are supposed to be rewarded for it on this earth. That the worldly profit we get from completing said task is paramount to the goodness that was completed in the eyes of God that can not be measured through means of touch or numbers. It is more important to most of us to be given something we can feel and see on this earth than something we can hold in our hearts and take to the gates of Heaven. The first is right there in front of us, the latter is faith.

Now, there is nothing inherently immoral about accepting favor for good deeds done. But as soon as we start expecting the reward for ourselves to be greater on earth than the free gift of God through Christ than we have lost the point of completing said deeds in the first place. Goodness cannot be goodness with expectations of earthly prizes, goodness is because it is done in the name of God, the ultimate good, not for ourselves.

I am sure many people questioned the decision of Saint George and his declining of the gifts at the time of that story’s publishing, but did Saint George care about the musings of those who questioned his decisions? Of course not. Many were envious, many hated him, many thought him foolish. But these are the thoughts of lesser men. The thoughts of men who put those favors and thoughts of others above the glory of God and the pursuit of goodness. George slayed the dragon because the townsfolk were in trouble and it needed to be done. He didn’t do it for pride, or for the opinions of other’s, or for the riches he would garner for the destruction of the beast. He did it because it was right. And yet, even though he did it for noble and brave intentions, cynical and spiteful men would look on him with disdain and jealousy because they accomplished nothing, and thus received nothing.

Our modern world is filled with hateful, lazy and envious people who despise goodness. They despise those who take a stand for God, truly and heartily, and relish the failures of others because their low self worth wants to bring those truly great and unique people down to their level. They hate those who are better, they hate those who seek more than what this physical world can provide, and they are terrified of beyond so they seek to control their own little box of the only reality they can grasp; the reality of self. “I think therefore I am,” as Descartes would say, and that is the modern dogma of the low man. I think, therefore I am all there is.

Many will hate you for being a true believer. They will call you stubborn, they will call you unrealistic, they will say you are not living in reality. But take a look at reality. Is this what you want to comply with? The reality of those who sacrifice the truth constantly, who are jealous of truly good people, and who seek to desecrate the name of God for their own worldly pleasures. You want to be a member of reality? Or do you want to rise above what low expectations we have been presented with.

Many people think today that if they are hated it must be because they did something wrong. Maybe social media has a place to play there, maybe coddling from their parents, whatever the case, the hatred you receive from others is not inherently a terrible thing, in fact it can often be admirable. To be hated by those who hate God is a testament to your own convictions, to your own bravery and deeds, to your own dragon’s you have slain. They hated Him, and thus those who follow in his footsteps, truly, who are chivalrous, and courageous, and good, will be hated too. It must be something you accept as a reality if you are to truly believe, and truly follow Him.

To be a real believer is hard. To be a slayer of dragons is difficult. If it was easy everyone would do it. It is much easier to hate and be jealous than to go and do something admirable in your own life. Most choose the easy way. So I say to you all, pick up your sword, put goodness first and the opinion’s of those who hate you last, and take your convictions and courage from God in your heart and go forth in the vanguard to live a life of goodness and real nobility, regardless of what anyone around you would ever think of it.

-Will Witt