Practicing Our "Hate Walk"

We all know we're supposed to practice our "Love Walk." If you've been to the Cornerstone Women's Conference the past two years you heard Pastor Sandy bring that term to life and make you realize it's power. If we don't walk in love we set ourselves up for failure, if we do walk in love we cannot fail.

But have you ever thought about the importance of your "Hate Walk?" Until this morning I hadn't given it much thought either. I'm beginning to see it's importance though and I thought this might be something you'd like to know about.

Hate is an ugly word. I encourage my boys to use it sparingly. It's become unlawful in certain circumstances and is completely incorrect politically. However, hate has it's value in certain arenas. The word hate, like many other politically incorrect words or phrases, is in the Bible and God doesn't shy away from it. In fact He encourages it, even commands it of us. Never toward people, but always toward sin.

In Proverbs 6:16-19 we see these words: "These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren."

Psalm 97:10 says: "You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked."

There is a simplicity to the gospel in these words. Love the Lord, hate evil! There is a solid promise to those who do this. The souls of His saints will be preserved and delivered.

We could meditate and digest these words in Proverbs as lists and as detailed instruction and we should. We should know what God hates and make the effort to eradicate these things from our thoughts and our actions. I think most of us do a good job of keeping ourselves from doing the things which God hates, but do we stand up beside Him and hate with Him?

This hate is a challenge reaching far into the maturing lives of Christians. It's not just something to keep our hands out of, it's something to stand against. To show a staunch intolerance toward.

There are several things that come to mind in recent circumstances one of them is entertainment. Kris and I started watching a new show and liked the writing, the characters and even some of the message of the show. It's pro-family and that's great, but it got careless. The writers chose to incorporate several ungodly (even unlawful) actions being portrayed as innocent, funny, acceptable and normal. We had to make a decision. Do we hate what God hates, or do we tolerate what God hates? We decided not to watch that show anymore. Not because it would tempt us to do those things, but because by watching it, bringing it into our home, we are allowing it to live out loud around us and how can we expect God to be present with us at all times when we are slapping Him in the face with our tolerance of what he hates.

Another instance happened recently on facebook. I was reading through some updates of "friends" and saw a statement that wreaked of gossip and rebellion regarding someone in our church. There were no names but the ministry involved was mentioned and people who aren't from our church were responding in harsh words. I simply commented this way: "Do you think this is a good topic for facebook?" I was of course reamed over my cyber head and digitally chastised for my kool-aid drinking faithfulness to my pastors. I was de-friended, I was made to feel ignorant and consequently lost some other relationships connected to this person. I was bothered by this at first and painfully questioned my own actions. I thought maybe I should have kept my nose out of it. But you know what? I've come to be glad for what I did.

I exposed what God hates. It wasn't my goal to show myself as more righteous, in fact I simply thought this other Christian would be glad for the reminder to not air other people's dirty laundry. My goal was to help, not hate. But indeed...I did hate. It wasn't her that I hated, it was the sin she so eloquently spouted.

Hating what God hates is increasingly unpopular and more and more difficult to act out. But it is a necessary part of our relationship to Him and a bold witness of His great authority and righteousness. Practicing our "hate walk" is not a call to shout out "You Sinner!" to the unrighteous around us. It is simply drawing a line and saying "not in my house, not on my watch, and not with my blessing." We cannot keep other people from committing sin. We can keep sin from becoming acceptable to us.

This week, I encourage you to make the words of Proverbs 6 a standard. Not just for your own actions, but for what you allow into your home, around your children and near your heart. There are good things waiting for those who will not compromise to the world's standards.

I love the words of Psalm 37:1-11

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The answer then to the schemes of the wicked is to hate what they do with a passion that causes us to walk in love with abandon. Trust in the Lord and do good. To hate sin is not an arrogance of righteousness, it is a meekness toward righteousness and a result of our affection for God. What great joy is ours as we walk in that meekness of verse 11 delighting ourselves in the abundance of God's peace.