Can’t We Just Get Along

“The world is not able to hate you; but it hates Me because I witness about it, that its works are evil.” John 7:7

Is Not Able – Did you really read these words?  If you go too fast, you might think that Jesus says, “The world does not hate you.”  But that isn’t His point.  The Greek expression is ou dunatai, from the verb dunamai.  Every word that is derived from this stem has the sense of power or capacity or ability.  It isn’t that the world doesn’t hate its own as a matter of happenstance.  It is that the world lacks the power or ability to hate its own.  It has no strength to discern what isn’t right about evil.  It’s like trying to see the shape of the dark in the dark.  The world is blind to its own condition.

It’s no use in trying to show those who are part of the systems of this world where they are mistaken.  They don’t have the capacity to see it.  It’s no use trying to negotiate with evil in order to get some perspective.  There is no power to make a difference.  Nothing in the world’s systems provides any differentiation that allows someone to rise out of the mire.  When it comes to rescue, the world is utterly powerless.   If you adopt the systems of the world as your measuring stick, you won’t be able to tell the difference between night and day.

Sometimes we treat Jesus’ radical claims with perilous indifference.  This is usually one of those times.  We think that we can operate in both realms.  We think we can conduct our typical affairs within the systems of the world.  After all, the world has a vibrant economy, a political structure, a kind of morality and a social fabric.  Those things work, don’t they?  We make money.  We govern.  We have high standards.  We love our friends.  What’s wrong with all that?  Why can’t we just get along – and still worship the King on Sunday?

Living in the dark might feel very comfortable.  After all, living in the dark has a kind of security to it.  No one can see you and you can’t see anyone else.  That’s the essence of tolerance.  Just leave me alone in the dark.  That way I can do whatever I really want to do and no one will see me – until someone comes along with a light.  If I like living in the dark, I will hate the one with the light.  But I will be perfectly content to have everyone else live in the dark along with me – just as long as I can’t see them.  We can all just get along quite nicely that way.

A disciple of Yeshua brings light to the dark.  That is grounds for instant hatred.  That’s not getting along.  That’s not tolerance.  That’s exposure and confrontation and embarrassment and humiliation.  The light shows everyone who I really am, and that is simply unacceptable in a dark world.

Jesus makes it very clear that the world will not tolerate Him.  So, what does that say about us?  Does the world tolerate you or me?  Do we bring light – and feel the pain of rejection and animosity?  Or do we just try to get along, keeping one foot in the dark?

Topical Index:  The World