No, I am not a part of a hate group, but I am called to hate. What am I called to hate? I am called to hate evil.  Hate is such a strong word. To hate is to loathe, detest, and despise.  I am called to hate that which is evil.

What is evil? I don’t get to define it because I myself am plagued with evil traits resulting from my sin nature. God, our Creator defines evil. Yes, the one who created the heavens and the earth and all that dwells therein, he defines evil.

In one place evil is described in the book of Amos. God pleads with Israel to return to him. He says:

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins; they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right…. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish |justice| in the gate; it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:12,14-15 KJV

In another place, it is described in Isaiah:

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None call for justice, nor any pleadeth for the truth; they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Isaiah 59:2-3 KJV

The scriptures above could be directly addressed to us in America today.  America, citizens of America, so much more is demanded from us, you. While I am happy to hear many express outrage at what happened in the city of Charlottesville this weekend. Happy may be too strong a word, but I am pleased that there is outrage; but frankly, is it enough?

In his poignant article as a letter to Christians in America, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes:

America has yet to deal with the lessons of our own history. We have never been utterly conquered so that we had to. The lessons of slavery and Jim Crow segregation–all predicated on claims of white supremacy–have yet to be fully learned or even fully acknowledged. Our walls are not made of concrete and barbed wire, but they remain walls. Our churches have sometimes defended those walls, to our everlasting shame.

No, our outrage is not enough, though it is right. We cannot be silent to evil. We are called to hate evil, call it out.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions… Isaiah 59:3-4 KJV

White America must look at what’s been done in the history of this country.  It has to be acknowledged in a real way so that it repulses to the point of causing repentance, and asking God for forgiveness, for American Christians were complicit in this evil.

America has high, and lofty ideals, while also being a country filled with imperfect people. But we must hold to, and guard our ideals found in our Declaration of Independence which states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We are all created equal. It was God who made all nations of one blood. God created this beautiful tapestry of peoples and nations from one blood.

I’ve cited this scripture in other posts, but perhaps you need to read it again:

And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. Acts 17:26 KJV

There is only one race, the human race. We are all image bearers of God, for God made us all in his image.

So to protect our ideals, and more so, to better represent Christ, we do need to call out evil. You may not do it in a formal protest, but you can and must voice your opposition. The Ku Klux Klan, White Supremacists, the Alt-Right, White Nationalists,  and Neo-Nazis movements that conducted a protest this weekend needs to be called out as evil, because racism is evil. Racism denies the God who created us all in his image, and for his glory.

So while all the talk has been about ending the hate, I just want to ensure we make a distinction. We are called to hate hateful and evil ideology.