Am I a Hater?

He wants some angry young men
Ones who can't be bought
Ones who will not run from a fight
Ones who speak the truth whether it's popular or not
Ones who'd give up anything to walk in His light
Rest assured when Jesus comes again
He'll be looking for some angry young men*

Hatred.
Done correctly, it is the mark of true believers. Like love, hatred is not an emotion; it is a conscious choice. And only the true believer can do it correctly, because hatred, done correctly, aligns itself with God. Hatred, done correctly, has one target: SIN. True believers hate sin. They hate it with every fiber of their beings, theirs first...
but all other sin, as well.

Apostates rationalize, hypothesize, and love sin.
Believers hate it.

Apostates rationalize. They tell themselves that God meets them where they are and extends grace in their choice to sin.
Believers hate sin.  They know that God never, never, ever, ever extends grace to sin. Never.

Apostates hypothesize. From their fictional world of Hypothetical Land--out there where Santa and Sasquatch live--they devise all kind of what-ifs that only materialize in one place: their own imaginations.
Believers hate sin.
They know there is no such place as What If.
They know that God rules in the Now and reigns in the Later.
They know He is Lord of Today and Lord of Tomorrow.

Apostates love their sin.
They are comfortable with their choices.
They call good evil and evil good.

But His grace was not intended as a place to wipe your feet.*

Believers hate sin.
They are burdened by sin's weight and grieved by God's wrath.
That weight and that wrath drive the true believer relentlessly to the foot of the Cross.
There they do business with their Redeemer and His severe mercy.
There--and only there--is their grief assuaged and their guilt forgiven.
But the true believer never, ever stops hating...
SIN.

He wants some angry young men
With fire in their eyes
Ones who understand what Jesus gave
Ones who have grown weary
of the world and all its lies
Ones who won't forget they've been
delivered from the grave.
Rest assured when Jesus comes again,
He'll be looking for some angry young men.*

The true believer does not stoop to red herrings and false trajectories.
He remembers that sin handled the whip, wove the thorns, drove the nails, and killed the Lamb.
He hates sin because God hates sin.

So, if you find yourself accused of being a 'hater,' take it as a compliment.
If someones says you're 'unbending,' understand, dear lamb, that means that you have a spine like steel, a face like flint.
It means you have the courage to live by conviction.
It means you have integrity.

While the battle cry of the apostate is, "Did God actually say?" (Gen.3:1)
the battle cry of the believer is, "I hate every false way!" (Psalm 119:104)

The apostate looks disdainfully at the believer and spits, "You're a hater."
The believer kneels at the foot of his Savior, gazes at His wounds, and replies, "Yes, I am."

Well, well, the road to hell is paved with
some impressive alibis.
But unless you thirst for Jesus first,
Man, heaven will pass you by.*

(*Angry Young Men by Randy Stonehill 1985)