We are living in a divided world. It used to be that language and culture separated peoples from one another. Today, the lines of separation are political, social, personal, and religious. As a consequence, disagreement is a dying art, and with it, listening, questioning, and understanding. To question the status quo is to be labelled and cancelled, demonstrating that reciprocity and tolerance are more fig leaves than actual principles of a ‘progressive’ society.
The moated castles of group identity politics are the new ‘safe spaces’ from disagreement. They are also perniciously safe from thought, which is why the distance between an otherwise traditional common sense view and grave offence is terrifyingly short. To disagree is to be accused of an -ism or -phobia.
One of the consequences of all of this is that the meaning of words are cheapened. If love is agreement and hate is disagreement, then love and hate are trivialised to the relative codes of a given community.
I wish I could say that the Church shines brightly by her opposition to this Zeitgeist, but recent political and social unrests have shown that the Western Church is more like Thyatira than she would care to admit (Revelation 2:18-29).
To disagree with someone does not necessarily indicate a hatred of that someone; often, it is suggestive of a deep love and affection for that someone. But to say a person has a deep love and affection for someone says more, not less, than that they actually like that someone.
This leaves us with two points:
- You can disagree with someone without hating them.
- You cannot love someone if you don’t even like them.
These speak to either side of our cultural divide. It is not tolerant, accepting or inclusive to say those who disagree with you are “hateful.” Equally, it is not “loving” when your words and actions do not reflect an iota of genuine care or affection for the person with whom you disagree.
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good…”
(Rom. 12:9)
This sermon by Pastor Jon Courson is wonderfully refreshing for our times. I commend it to you.
