Is Christianity a Religion of Hate?
(4-minute read.)
Note: This post is the first in a series examining what’s gone wrong with my fellow evangelicals.
A Really Good and Necessary Question–but So Sad That It Is!
Many thanks to my atheist Jewish friend “K” for sharing TikTok creator Jess Craven’s video seeking help with her kids’ question: “Was Christianity always a religion of hate?” I understand why they’re asking when so many so-called “Christians” spew hate and do hurtful things–including giving their unqualified support for the Trump Administration’s cruel social agenda.
A Short Answer to Jess’s Kids’ Question:
Jess, so much of the religion your kids refer to has indeed become hateful, but, like you, I’d argue it’s because so much of Christianity has disconnected from Christ’s original teachings.
To begin, it’s important to point out that Jesus never used the term “Christian” because it didn’t exist when he walked the earth; he called his followers “disciples,” from the ancient Greek word meaning “learners.” He said one quality would mark these learners, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
One of Jesus’ closest followers, the Apostle John, unequivocally states, “The person who doesn’t love others does not know God, because God is love.” So, a hater can’t claim to be a follower of Christ, whom most Christians believe is the incarnation or the embodiment of the Divine—and whose very nature is LOVE.
So, love is the true sign of a “Christian” or Christ-learner. “Love,” in the Christian sense, means giving oneself to others—it’s the opposite of self-centeredness, selfishness, and self-promotion. This was central to Jesus’ model, ministry, and message. He announced that “God so loved the world, he gave . . .” Giving is inseparable from loving and vice versa.
What Are the Differences Between Jesus-Learners, Christianity, and Christendom?
Three things get jumbled when discussing “Christianity”:
- Jesus-learning (or Jesus-following)
- Christianity
- Christendom
No one should confuse these three because they are distinct from one another.
Christianity can twist simple Christ-learning, or discipleship, into a complex structured (and even impersonal) religious system. While disciples model Jesus’ care for the vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed, religious people often follow esoteric rules in pursuit of highly personalized and even self-centered rewards. These religious rules and rewards can become more important than what Jesus says Christians are supposed to do out of our love for God and our neighbor, the two things that summarize everything in the Bible.
When an expert on religious law asked Jesus what was the most important of the more than 600 commandments found in the Torah, or Law of Moses, he answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Nothing matters more in Scripture than loving God and loving others!
Religion v. Relationship
In contrast to Jesus’ very human, down-to-earth, relational ministry of love, “Christian religion” often hyper-spiritualizes Jesus’ instruction, taking his directives out of the concrete and into the ethereal. At the same time, it attempts to interpret Biblical content uniformly and codifies the church’s historical practices. Instead of simply caring for one another, church members often must accede to certain creeds, dogmas, and rituals.
Christianity as a formal religion emerged well after Jesus’ time, with the relatively recent American evangelical version arising only in the late 1700s. Donald Trump’s religio-political MAGA movement is less than 10 years old.
While early evangelicalism prioritized helping poor and oppressed people, many of the more recent forms of evangelicalism flagrantly contradict Jesus’ core values of humility, truthfulness, and the embrace and care of the other without discrimination.
Now, Christianity Has Given Way to a Resurgent Christendom
The resurgence of Christendom, evident in the MAGA cult and among many current American religious influencers, reveals a concerning fusion of faith and political power. This imperial concept, rooted in medieval Europe, where church and state were inseparable, now animates much of the religious right and the Republican Party.
Throughout history, the notion of Christendom enabled religious control of the masses through:
- Declaring strong national leaders as messengers of God
- Expansion through conquest
- Colonial domination
- Racial and gender discrimination
- Ostracizing those outside accepted sexual norms
In America, Christendom manifests as Christian nationalism, promoting an idealized white, bourgeois, conservative society aggressively advanced through public policy and protected by law. Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth‘s tattoos, combining Christian crusader symbols with American war imagery, make this phenomenon obvious–literally!
Today’s political Christianity is far from the humble, people-loving, peace-promoting faith demonstrated by Jesus, a poor, dark-complected Palestinian Jew of the Middle Eastern Lavant.
The Bottom Line
Authentic Christian discipleship, marked by love and care for others, directly opposes the false politicized religion of power, privilege, exclusion, and contempt. In fact, on the day of final judgment, the Bible tells us Christ will separate the “saved” from the “lost” based on how they treated others, especially the most vulnerable:
“‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’“
And the Last Word
Anything less than a consummately humble and loving Christianity is not Christ-like and is, therefore, a fake faith.
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