This past weekend has brought about some extremely significant actions that have brought about strong words.  Words like nazi, racism, supremacy, hate, rage, fear have all been mentioned.  There have been those who took a stand for something that they believe to be right and others who stood against what they believe to be wrong.

The reality is, there was disastrous consequences that came from the actions that followed such vile words.  These words aren’t just demeaning in nature, they are filled with a hatred that is not only wrong, it is heartbreaking.

I have watched a lot of news, read several articles, and seen multiple clips from sermons and others as they responded to these tragic events.   In one of those responses, a man, who is not a Christian, said that he felt he had a duty to stand up against hatred.  He is a famous actor who has a lot of followers – his point was that he would be wrong to not help others see the tragedy for what it is.  I thought to myself, if this non-Christian has a responsibility to stand and proclaim that racism, nazism, and white supremacy are wrong than I certainly have an even stronger responsibility to do the same.

I realize that to many of us, those words seem obvious.  But let me pose a different question…

“Is there any kind of hatred that is ok?”

The Bible, God’s Holy Word, gives us some clear direction in this.  The book of Amos tells us to “hate evil and love good…”(5:15).  As believers we are to be ones who hate the evil of this world.  We are to be ones that hate sin for what it is.

We must be careful to draw a line as it is our responsibility to still “love our enemies” as Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 5.  But it is clear throughout the Old and New Testaments that the only hatred that we ought to have is toward sin.

We must make these sorts of proclamations from our pulpits and in our workplaces, and in our classrooms, and on the ball fields, and in our Sunday School classes, and our small groups, and in our neighborhoods.

In addition, if this is not clear already, God is not a racist!  He does not hold a preference toward a certain race, or people group, or ethnicity.  Instead, in the book of Revelation we read the following truth, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude, that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'” (8:9-10).

Not only will there be different races and ethnicities and languages and people groups in Heaven, we will all be gathered around the throne TOGETHER worshipping the one true God.  May we as a people of God stand together united against racism and the wickedness of man and proclaim the love of Christ toward all people of all nations.