Hate Eats The Hater

During this time of insanity in the Anglican Communion, I have been reading communications from both sides of the issue.

As I was contemplating this war of hate filled words, I was struck by the fact that I was getting caught up in it myself. I was beginning to draw lines in the sand and starting to think that only liberals have the truth. Hate was beginning to fill my life. I resented that my life as a gay man is being blamed for the breakup of the Anglican Communion.

I finally had to let go of the hatred and resentment that had been growing in my own life. Carrie Fisher put it well when she said, "resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

Ursula K. LeGuin in her book, "The Telling", puts it another way. She says, "Hate eats the hater." I have watched as people on each side of the human sexuality issue hurl hate filled words at each other. I have watched church and diocesan calendars and money eaten by this hatred. I have watched outreach efforts of both financial and physical help refused by those eaten by hate. I have watched people walk away from church never to return. Those who ultimately lose are the poor and the least in the world.

I think the church's message and mission have been lost in a power play. The doctrinal arguments are a thinly veiled attempt to hide the lust and greed for money and power over the communion. There have been groups that have tried to break up the communion for years now - this is just the issue that has gotten them the closest to their goal.

As lay people and clergy sit around and debate points of disagreement over a small matter, the church at large is in danger of neglecting those it is called to serve. Jesus himself said, "What you do to the least of these you do to me." In the current climate of anger and tension, with so much money wasted on creating new church structures, the poor still wait for food and shelter. Wars of words, bullets, and genocide consume the planet. Hate has been allowed to eat away at all of us for far too long.

Jesus said the first and greatest commandment was "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul." The other great commandment is, "love your neighbor as yourself." What does our hate filled and hurtful language say about us and whose we are? Mahatma Ghandi once said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

As Christians, we are called to rise above the hate and lust for power. We are called to live out God's love for all people. We serve and live around God's table and God's invitation is for all people to come and experience love. Each of us is a vessel for God's Spirit to shine forth.

Jesus welcomed the outsider, the different, the enemy, and the spiritually broken to be with him. He chose twelve imperfect men as his disciples. He respected women in a culture that treated them as property. He broke the cultural and stereotypical norms of his day. He challenged the status quo of a world where access to God was available only to those who followed strict rules set down by religious leaders. He approached his encounters with people from the side of love. We would do well to follow his example.

© 2009 Corey Spence