Passages like these are hard ones for chronic people-pleasers like myself. The Bible seems to say, at multiple places in the Old and New Testaments, that following God is a one-way ticket to being disliked. Who woke up this morning saying "Please God, I want to be disliked," I mean, really?
Some faith traditions embrace being disliked. Particular fundamentalist movements enjoy being disliked by "the world," and take satire and mockery as signs they are on the right path. On the other side of things, other church movement embrace being liked out of Paul's admonition "As far as it is possible with you, be at peace with everyone." So who is right? Who is wrong? Should I want to be liked by people outside my faith tradition or not?
Neither. Jesus doesn't call on us to embrace being hated, Jesus encourages us if (key word in John 15:18) we are hated. Jesus doesn't call on us to embrace being liked, as the Lord only knows how many foolish decisions I have made in the race to become more liked. Jesus calls us to embrace the Spirit of Truth. At times, we will be disliked, especially as the Spirit drives us to mission, including the prophetic call to justice for the forgotten. No society likes to be reminded of what it has forgotten. Other times, embracing the Spirit of Truth will lead us into deeper love of neighbor that will increase the peace of our communities. It's hard not to like that.
I suppose, in short, I don't think I need to gauge my success in the Christian walk based on people's response to me, just on the wind of the Spirit blowing through my sails.
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