"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also." – John 15:18-20
Being a follower of Jesus Christ means being ready to face the world, no matter what it my throw against you. We Christians aren't called to conform to this world and become loved by it. Rather, we're called to be separate from it, a holy people set apart for nothing and no one else but God.
A Holy People
When we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we find there a common theme: God loved us, but we were separated from Him because of our sin, so He kept pursuing us and even sent His one and only begotten Son to save us from sin and bring us back to Him.
Now that we're back to Him, the Bible also tells us that we must be a holy people. To be "holy" means to be "set apart" for God alone. Yes, all who are called by His name should live for Him alone, and nothing else.
This is what it means to be "a holy people" – that our lives will be totally freed from anything that this world gives. We all know that we live in this world, but we're not of it. Jesus told a Bible scholar, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). If we're born of God then we must live by God, not by the world.
Expected Rejection
Knowing this, we should've realised by now that we're not the same as the world. Anybody who loves God and follows Him is automatically an enemy of this world and its ruler. Friendship with the world means being an enemy of God (see James 4:4), and vice-versa. The world hated Christ. Should we expect any better?
Friends, we must prepare ourselves for tonnes of worldly rejection if we are to seriously follow Christ. We must be prepared to face hurt and ridicule for standing up against sin, injustice, unrighteousness, and deceit. We must be ready to do what God wants us to do in our generation, even if it means being left alone and rejected by society.
Still, friends, what we might lose for the sake of following God will be for our gain. Let's not trade our heavenly inheritance for momentary bliss.
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.'" (Matthew 16:24-25)
