Haters Gonna Hate!

Today as I ponder some of the things that make us tick in our society, I thought about the issue of haters. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the slang term haters, here is a definition from urban dictionary:

• A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.

• Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn't really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch. 

So the question becomes why do people hate? Why is it sometimes we wish someone else to fall so that we can feel better? I see this play out during football season. I am a Raider fan, a franchise rich in a tradition of winning, and a commitment to excellence (okay enough of the propaganda), but it is no secret that the team is hated by many, especially by fans of the other team in the bay (and vice-versa, it goes both ways). Now there are great kind-hearted fans on both sides, but I have seen and heard so many fans of one team bash the other. I see that if one team does well fans of the other wont support them. This is an example of "hatin". If our team does not have success, we do not want the other team to have success. But why is this?

We can look all through the bible and see that haters. Cain hated on Abel, Pharaoh hated on the Hebrews, Saul hated on David, Pharisees and religious leaders hated on Jesus, and so on. As we can see the "hate" is nothing new, but when we look closely we can see what this hate leads too. Cain killed Abel, Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews and ordered Hebrew babies to be killed, Saul wanted David killed, and we all know what happened to Jesus. Full blown hate leads to sin, the result of that sin is evil, which will eventually lead to death (Romans 6:23, James 1:14-15). This is playing out at sporting events, as you will hear about shootings, fights, stabbings and other violence after sports games. Most of us have heard about the Giants fan that was attacked at Dodger Stadium that suffered brain damage as a result of the beatings. What drives us as a society to act in such a way? Why are we at one time or another, "a hater"?

I could go into many reasons why this occurs, but let me just mention one. I believe we hate because we have a loss of identity. Let me explain. Sometimes another persons success threatens our confidence in our own existence. Going back to the sports team example, when our team loses we feel our relevance is somehow diminished, and we aren't even playing!  We wrap our identities up in the team by buying jerseys, banners, bumper stickers, etc. Therefore when our team misses the playoffs, has a losing season, or disappoints us in some way, we somehow feel a loss of existence. This is compounded when a rival team enjoys success. Suddenly we feel that our relevance is gone and it is given to others, which results in us becoming haters.We have a desire to dominate. Our team is the best. What I am doing is the best. I am in first place. The problem is we have chosen to wrap our identity in the wrong things! We must remember that our identity is in Christ, and once we embrace that identity, the fact that we have been chosen , we no longer have to worry about dominating over others (John 15:16).When we remember our identity is not in ourselves, our favorite sports team, or anything else we place it in, we can focus on enjoying the freedom, grace, and love that we have in Christ. We do not need to hate because it is no longer our nature, we do not need to dominate over others because we love not only what God loves, but we love how God loves (John 15:12-17). God loved us so much that he paid a debt that he did not owe. His death on the cross was our gain, and if anyone had a legitimate right to be a hater it was Christ. So next time you feel yourself having a little hate towards someone just remind yourself, why am I "hatin"?