Everybody wants to be liked. Human beings are fueled by the need to be accepted. I would even say that many are even driven by the desire to be approved of by others. This is especially visible in today’s culture where tolerance and inclusion are preached constantly. However, if you follow Jesus, this will not always be the case.
Truthfully, when I began to follow Jesus I noticed very quickly that people were not as quick to want to be associated with me. I lost friends. Some even asked why I would do that. The decision to follow Jesus put distance between me and others. Little did I know at that time, that is exactly what Jesus said would happen, and he also said that we are blessed when that occurs. Our beatitude today comes from Luke 6:22 where it is recorded that Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!”
Let’s first point out that you will be hated simply because you follow Jesus. In other words, following Jesus will be followed by people who have an intense and passionate disliking of you. Some may “exclude you” from events they used to include you in. They may cease to call you to go out to eat or go to the movies or go to birthday parties. Others may mock you, ridicule you, or treat you with contempt. Of course, they may also talk about you behind your back in the community. Perhaps, you will have rumors spread about you to ruin your character. All this simply because you made a decision to follow Jesus. This is not spoken of often behind Sunday morning pulpits, I suspect because no one wants to hear they will be hated, but this is the reality of following Christ. When you choose to follow Jesus, you are turning your back on the world and the old you, and people do not always respond kindly to that.
The second point to be made is this: You are considered “blessed” when others hate you because you follow Jesus. As we have already determined in the previous two blogs on the beatitudes, the word “blessed” means to be happy or to be envied. Interesting. According to Jesus, we will be happy and should be envied, when we are hated, mocked, reviled, ridiculed, and excluded on account of following Jesus. Is Jesus serious? If you have ever been the recipient of hatred, exclusion, or ridicule, then you know there is nothing to be happy about. It hurts when you are the subject of hatred and ridicule. People can say and do very mean things that will not be forgotten. So it’s worth asking, why are we blessed when people hate us on account of Jesus? The answer lies in what Jesus said in his next statement, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets” (Luke 6:23). When people exclude us, revile us, and mock us on account of Christ, Jesus tells us to respond with rejoicing and joy, because of our future reward – heaven. People have always treated those who believed in God and follow Jesus with harshness. People treated Jesus with hatred, and we will be treated the same way. But one day all that will end. One day when we die or when Jesus returns, we will dwell with Jesus in heaven, but for now, while we are on this sin-stained planet, we will endure suffering because we follow Jesus. We are not blessed because of how we are treated, we are blessed because we have a future full of hope. Thus, being blessed does not depend on us being accepted, liked, or approved of by others; on the contrary, we are blessed when we continue to look to and depend on God in the midst of being hated, excluded, and mocked, because we know there is a greater future to look forward to.
The last point to be made is this: Be mindful of popularity. Jesus said in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you, when all speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” The word “woe” indicates that Jesus is giving us a warning. A warning to be mindful when everyone praises us. In the Old Testament false prophets would give predictions that every king wanted – victory and prosperity. Who doesn’t want to hear that!? Sounds great! Much better than being hated. In return, the false prophet were well spoken of and praised because they told the people what they wanted to hear, but they did not give them truth. However, while the false prophet was praised, the true prophets were hated, excluded, reviled, spurned, beaten, tortured, and even put to death, despite declaring what was true. In other words, if we are true to live according to God’s Word and follow Jesus, we will not be popular, accepted, liked, or approved of by many; in fact, the opposite will occur, but we will be blessed. On the other hand, if we concern ourselves with being popular, accepted, praised, liked, and approved of by the world, then we are not concerning ourselves with God’s truth. Why? The message of this world and the message of God are completely opposites, and we have to choose which we are going to live by; we cannot have both. The message of the gospel is full of truth that few like, and the message of the world is full of lies that many like. If we follow Jesus, it will cost; we will be hated, but we will be blessed. If we follow this world, we may be popular now but shall be cursed in the eternal life ahead.