Hate < Love

Hate is a powerful emotion that can go bad quickly...

Let me preface this post by saying this: I am sports fan and probably at certain stages of my life an out-of-balance fan. I have rooted for the same teams since childhood, Redskins, Orioles, and Maryland Terps, so I know a little about losing seasons. And I am a very competitive person on all levels and do not enjoy losing. 

I have refused to read the newspaper and watch ESPN the following morning after my team lost the day before. I have witnessed my teams win and lose and losing always leaves a yucky taste in my mouth. So as I write these thoughts I feel the pain of some fans from last night. Yet, I quite frankly don't get the level of hatred that gets hurled at a certain player. 

Yes, I watched the NBA Finals and it was a fantastic series. Both teams had a chance to win it all. I actually thought the Spurs won it all in game 6 and turned the TV off with 40 seconds left, only to find out the next morning they had lost.

All that to say this, I am just tired of all the hate I see out there for a man who plays basketball. Especially among Christ-followers. What drives that kind of long term hatred? Why is that kind of hatred applauded? Why do we let it continue? Where do we get the justification for this kind of hatred that burns jerseys, spits out tweets, tags photos and laughs at them? 

Maybe, I feel the pain more, because I have been on the receiving end of some hate too. Maybe I feel the pain because many Christ-followers feel it's okay to cheer for the failure of Church Ministry and secretly wish the Pastor would lose and fail. Have we really moved that far that we find  more satisfaction in rooting for a person/ team/ ministry to lose then for my team to win? 

Have we moved so low that we are known more for what we are against then what we stand for? I know there are many things to stand against, yet what do we truly stand for? Are we known more for what we hate?

All that to say this, I am grieved by the hate level I witness in Christianity today. And I wonder what might happen if we bottled up that level of angst and used it against the Real Enemy instead of a kid from Akron Ohio, who just happened to make a decision to be part of a team that gave him a better chance of winning it all. I am also grateful for the "Great Cloud of Witnesses" that the Book of Hebrews talks about that are cheering me on to victory instead of cheering me onto defeat. Enough of the Hate!