If the World Hates You, You're in the Right Place

Introduction

A boy of twelve or thirteen sits down next to the preacher, looking completely crushed. He's the only Christian in his family. His older sister tells him God is stupid and he's stupid for believing. His father closes his Bible every time he sees it open. Finally the boy blurts out: "I can't take it anymore."

Maybe you recognize that scene. Maybe you're the one who feels alone, misunderstood, pushed aside because of your faith. Maybe you wonder why it hurts so much when all you're trying to do is follow Jesus.

In this passage from John 15:18 to 16:2, Jesus takes time to explain to his disciples why it's going to be hard to be a Christian. Not to discourage you. So you won't be caught off guard when it happens. And so you can grasp something remarkable: if the world hates you, it might be a sign that you're exactly where you're supposed to be.

Outline

1. The world hates Jesus, so it hates his church

Jesus starts strong: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18). That "if" isn't really conditional. It's not a maybe. Christian tradition holds that all the disciples, except perhaps the apostle John, died as martyrs for their faith. Hostility is part of the landscape for any Christian who wants to live like Jesus.

Paul tells Timothy the same thing in his final letter, written from prison: "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). Notice, Jesus doesn't promise to spare you the storms. He promises to rescue you in them. He doesn't keep the storm from you: he comes and walks with you through the middle of it.

Think it through for a second. How could a world that rejects Jesus (the one you call Savior, the one your every decision is shaped by) possibly accept you? If this world hated the greatest Christian who ever lived, how could it love the little Christs we're meant to be? (That's literally what the word "Christian" means: little Christ.)

Look around you. The one person it's socially acceptable to mock, caricature, and make tasteless jokes about is Jesus Christ. The places most often and most quickly stripped of anything sacred are churches. This world hates Jesus Christ. That's why it hates the people it calls Christians.

2. You no longer belong to this world

Verse 19: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Jesus chose you out of this world. You're still here, still on earth, no mystical fantasy involved. But there's a real disconnect: you no longer belong to it. And that difference shows, concretely.

In our world, we love sacrificially, we serve intentionally, and we don't play favorites among people. We serve not based on someone's merit or importance, but the way Christ himself served, washing the feet of even the worst traitor. We choose to love even our enemies, answering insult with prayer and offense with forgiveness.

Where the world cancels, the church restores. Where the world intimidates and tries to demonize, the church repairs. Where the world closes its eyes and shuts its heart, the church opens wide. Where the world casts aside the people it's had enough of, the church goes and pulls them back in.

And that stirs up rejection. Because in your actions, the world sees a mirror it doesn't like: one that reflects back what it really is, and it isn't pretty. That's why, if you're the only Christian in a group of friends and you slip up, everyone piles on. The mirror is uncomfortable.

3. A servant is not greater than his master

Verse 20: "Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

You are not better than Jesus. Nobody is. If he, the perfect man, the most loving person who ever lived, who never did wrong and never spoke a hurtful word, was persecuted, why would you expect anything different?

It's sad. Deeply sad, because it's illogical. How can a world that witnessed the beauty of the cross and Christ's love still hate Jesus? And yet it does. And if you resemble your Master, some of that same hatred will turn toward you too.

But here's the good news: the church, because it testifies of Jesus Christ, because the same Spirit who lived in Jesus now lives in her, will also bear fruit. Opposition won't be the only response. Some will listen. The world will be transformed by it. And in the end, God always wins.

4. The world willfully refuses to know God

Verse 21: "But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they don't know him who sent me."

This world doesn't know who God is. But for Jesus, that's no excuse. Look at what he adds:

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. […] If I hadn't done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father." (John 15:22, 24)

Verse 22: Jesus said things. Verse 24: Jesus did things, and rather astonishing things at that. If God himself comes into the world in person, if God himself comes and speaks, if humanity sees with its own eyes the miraculous works he performed, what good reason is left for not believing?

None. Jesus is saying: their ignorance is a choice.

Picture humanity as a room plunged into darkness: your basement, your attic, a windowless room. To see, you need two things: a switch that turns on the light, and, just as much, you need to open your eyes. Jesus says, "The light has been turned on. I'm showing you who God is." The only reason the world doesn't see isn't that it can't. It's that it chooses not to open its eyes.

And the preacher added this thought: it takes far more faith to be an atheist than to be a Christian. It takes far more faith to believe that nothing can create everything, that chance can produce life, and that good and evil are nothing but a social construct.

5. Why Jesus tells you all this

Verse 1 of chapter 16: "I have said these things to you so that you wouldn't be caused to stumble."

Jesus warns you so you won't be blindsided. He announces exclusion from the synagogues (the equivalent, for Jews, of being cast out of the local church) and he announces violence: "The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God" (John 16:2).

Following Jesus, very often, comes with a social cost, just like that thirteen-year-old boy from the beginning of this story. And what comes next needs to grab hold of you: even if you lost everyone, you'd have gained Christ, and you'd have gained a family in the church.

That's a call to action. The church needs to become that family, ready to welcome the people whose faith in Christ has cost them dearly: rejection from parents perhaps, lost friendships, a strained marriage. The world excludes? Then we gather in.

A word on persecution around the world

Every year, the NGO Open Doors publishes an index ranking the countries where it's hardest to be a Christian. Since 2014, this persecution has only kept rising. When some countries drop in the ranking, it's not because they've become less violent: it's because other, more violent countries have taken their place.

The preacher told this story. After several break-ins at the church, he brought the new key to the Eritrean Christians hosted in the building, feeling a bit awkward about it. Some of them carry on their bodies the marks of the persecution that made them flee their country. The Eritrean pastor put his hand on his shoulder and said:

"That's the sign we're in the right place. If you're being persecuted, it means Christ lives here."

The preacher's first reaction had been anger. The Eritrean pastor's reaction was: "We're in the right place." That raises a question. Do you only see the suffering, or do you also see what it reveals: that the world rejects you because you no longer belong to it, and that is the best news there is, because it means you belong to Jesus Christ.

Key takeaways

Persecution is not an accident. It's the norm for any Christian who wants to live godly. Jesus tells you plainly so you won't be surprised.
Jesus doesn't spare you the storm, he rescues you in the middle of it. He never promised you a comfortable life, but he did promise a faithful presence in hard times.
Your difference comes from love. Where the world cancels, you restore. Where the world excludes, you gather in. That's what stirs things up.
The world has no excuse. Jesus spoke (verse 22) and Jesus acted (verse 24). The gospel has transformed our societies, and the church keeps bearing witness. This world's ignorance isn't passive, it's active.
Being persecuted is the finest compliment you can receive. It means you resemble Jesus Christ. Rejoice, because your name is written in heaven.

Personal application

Have you ever faced opposition because of your faith? Not necessarily violence, but words, mockery, rejection at home or at work. How did you respond?
If you've never faced any opposition at all, could that be a sign your fruit is still hidden? That your difference doesn't show yet?
Is there someone around you (a friend, a coworker, a family member) suffering because of their faith? How can you become that "substitute family" Jesus promised?
What's holding you back today from loving the way Jesus loved: sacrificially, without playing favorites, including people who don't deserve it?
When a difficulty comes because of your faith, what's your first reaction: anger (like the preacher), or "Christ lives here" (like the Eritrean pastor)?

Verses cited

FAQ

Is every Christian bound to be persecuted?

Jesus says yes, in some measure. Paul writes that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). It doesn't always take the form of physical violence. It can be exclusion, mockery, rejection at home or at work. But if your faith never costs you anything, there's a real question worth asking: does your fruit even show?

How do I stand firm when the persecution comes from my own family?

That's one of the most painful situations to face. Jesus told his disciples this plainly: following Christ can cost you even family relationships. But he also promised that whoever loses a family because of his name will receive a new family in the church. Don't stay isolated. Look for brothers and sisters in the faith who can become that substitute family Jesus promised.

How can I pray specifically for persecuted Christians around the world?

You can use the annual index published by the NGO Open Doors, which ranks the 50 countries where it's hardest to be a Christian each year. Pray for those countries by name. Pray for Eritrean, Iranian, North Korean, Afghan, and Pakistani Christians. And if you meet brothers and sisters in your own church who fled persecution, listen to them. They have a lot to teach you about what it means to say: "Christ lives here."

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