What God Hates
A while back, God impressed on me the wickedness in our nation of character assassination; it’s a multi-billion dollar industry. If some group of people decides that they disagree with the views of someone, they don’t confront that person with facts and truth to refute that person’s perspective. Instead, they attack the person. They dig for dirt. They gin up a charge and then assassinate the person by “the seriousness” of the (unfounded) charge.
I’m not limiting my concerns to national politics; I see the same actions within many denominations and local churches. I fear that we have forgotten the things God hates.
“There are six things the Lord hates—
– Proverbs 6:16–19 NLT
no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.”
God Hates This Person
Notice the seventh thing the Lord hates. It is a person who “sows discord.” This is the person that “stirs the pot.” These people are not committed to improving the lives of people; no, they are just troublemakers; they are more than unkind. They work to shipwreck the faith believers have in Christ Jesus. God hates troublemakers.
The first six things God hates are evil actions that people do – a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, the heart that plots evil – the seventh is “a person.” God is a God of order and purpose. In everything He does, He brings order out of chaos and purpose out of self-destruction. A person that sows discord attempts to change God’s order back to chaos.
Aiding and Abetting
This truth about God hating anyone that sows discord is continually in my thoughts these days. I have not found a good way to express the danger to anyone that is “that” person. We that love God must not tolerate troublemakers because they harm believers and drive the lost away from the Church. We need to counsel and pray for them, but if we extend our “covering” to them, we are guilty of aiding and abetting God’s enemies – yes, it’s really that serious.
It Cuts Both Ways
Every person is made in the image of God; we don’t know what purpose God has planned for him or her. That person may be you or me. In our desire to defend the Body of Christ or our nation, we may fall into satan’s trap. We may seek to harm the personal reputation of someone we disagree with. That’s a precipitous path.
We should call wickedness what it is, but we need to remember that Jesus said, “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” And in the book of James:
“But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)” – Jude 1:9
Zombies, Yes!
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies…1” This one verse settles the matter. It’s okay if we’re fighting zombies 😉, but a living, breathing person is not our target. And, when it comes to spiritual battles, we must not step over the line from using offensive weapons and defensive armor God has provided us and into saying, praying, or doing things that are tools of the devil. As Jesus plainly said, “How can Satan cast out Satan2 ?”
Good News
God hates troublemakers. If we discover that we are becoming one, we should repent and run to Jesus. He will forgive us if we turn away from this sin, but we’re in for a very tough time if we try to justify our actions to Christ, our Master.
Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay
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[1]: Ephesians 6:12.
[2]: Mark 3:23.