Separation of Church and Hate

Traci Hubbard                             June 14^th, 2026

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap, and carrying a ball and bat. "I’m the greatest hitter in the world," he announced. Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.  "Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"

He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down, he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried. The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spat on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"

Again, he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!" "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!"

Today I want to talk about a subject that may make us a little uncomfortable… the separation of church and hate. Notice I did not say the separation of church and conviction. I did not say the separation of church and truth. I did not say the separation of church and disagreement. I said hate. As followers of the ways of Jesus, we are called to many things, but hatred is not one of them.

Richard Rohr writes, “Everything has to be understood in opposition to something else. For some dang reason, the ego prefers to make one side better than the other, so we choose. And we decide males are better than females, America is better than Canada, Democrats are better than Republicans. And for most people, once this decision is made, it is amazing the amount of blindness they become capable of. They really do not see what is right in front of them. Once you see this, it is an amazing breakthrough, and that is the starting place for moving away from dualistic thinking.” That observation is both funny and painfully accurate. Human beings seem to come preloaded with a strange software program. We divide the world into teams. My team. Your team. Good people. Bad people. Enlightened people. Spiritually Lazy people. And once we have sorted everyone into categories, we become remarkably creative at explaining why our side is blessed by the Spirit and the other side is apparently being personally managed by Flip Wilson’s, “The devil made me do it.”

If you have ever watched two people who claim to be Christian argue online, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it looks less like the Body of Christ and more like seagulls fighting over a french fry on a beach. The ego loves division because division makes us feel important. But Jesus consistently moved in the opposite direction.

Think about the people Jesus encountered. Tax collectors. Pharisees who were not concerned with being fair. Roman soldiers. Samaritans. Fishermen. The rich. The poor. People who were admired. People who were avoided like the woman who was bent over. The woman who could not stop bleeding. The lepers. The mentally ill hanging out in cemeteries. All the people society shamed. Jesus did not erase differences, but neither did He turn differences into reasons for contempt. He saw human beings where others saw categories. Jesus saw souls where others saw labels. And if we are courageous enough to be honest, we know that having the heart of Jesus towards every human being is much harder than it sounds.

Several years ago, a man named Frank was known in his town for having a giant political sign in his front yard. Every election season his sign went up like clockwork. Across the street lived his neighbor, Bill, who displayed the exact opposite sign. For years they glared at each other while taking out the trash. They perfected the art of the passive-aggressive wave. You know the one. Not a real wave. The kind of wave that says, "I acknowledge your existence, but I have concerns."

Then one winter, Bill slipped on ice while shoveling snow and broke his ankle. Frank witnessed the fall and without thinking, he ran over, called for help, and spent the next few weeks clearing Bill's driveway. A strange thing began to unfold while the snow was being shoveled…Frank and Bill began talking. They discovered they both loved fishing. Both worried about their grandchildren and how cell phones were robbing them of outside adventures and imagination. Both hated assembling anything from Ikea. Both thought their doctors were too young to understand their needs. And one day Bill laughed and said, "You know, I still think your sign is ridiculous." Frank replied, "That's okay. I still think yours is ridiculous." Then a stranger thing happened…they both laughed. Nothing changed. And everything changed. They still disagreed. But disagreement had stopped being hatred. They had become a human being to the other.

The church is at its best when it helps people see one another as human beings. The church is at its worst when it teaches people to fear, dismiss, or despise those who are different. Hatred often disguises itself as righteousness…virtue. Righteousness can sound spiritual. It can quote scripture, Rumi, and Diana Butler Bass quotes can roll off the tongue like gumballs roll out of a machine. Decency can speak the language of certainty. Folks, Jesus gave us a clarifying lens, a microscope to evaluate our sense of virtue, to illuminate our heart’s intentions.

"You will know them by their fruits." What fruit does hatred produce? Bitterness. Cruelty. Suspicion. Assumption. Gossip disguised as concern. Pride. What fruit does the Spirit produce? Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Integrity that speaks the truth…sometimes very hard truths, wrapped in love. The fruits, our fruits, tell the story…reveal who we really are.

The challenge for us today is not merely to love people who are easy to love. Anyone can do that. Our challenge is to refuse the temptation to turn another human being into an enemy, even while that person is doing us harm. This does not mean we agree with everyone. Living, being this way, does not mean truth doesn't matter. It also does not mean our convictions do not matter. What this means is we are choosing the eyes of the heart of Jesus who modeled every person we encounter bears the image of the Sacred. Every person. Not just the ones who vote like us. Not just the ones who believe like us, look like us, or make our lives comfortable. Every person.

The message of the cross stands against dualistic thinking. At the cross, humanity divided itself into camps. Religious leaders. Roman authorities. Crowds. Followers. Supporters. Opponents. Everyone choosing sides. And what does Jesus say? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Even in His suffering, He refused to let hatred have the final word. The separation of church and hate is not accomplished by changing other people. It begins when we allow the Spirit to change us. When we become curious instead of contemptuous, we are evolving. When we listen before judging, we are transforming. When we remember that we do not see perfectly, we are growing. When we recognize that our opponents are often just people carrying fears, wounds, hopes, and dreams that look surprisingly like our own, we are living with compassion and humility. And when we remember that being right is not the highest Christian virtue, LOVE is, we are waking up and becoming the LIGHT. And yes, the loving LIGHT of the Spirit also exists to point out, to guide us to what is true so we can speak to it, hopefully connect with what is really going on so healing may result. This week, when you and I encounter someone who frustrates us, challenges us, or disagrees with us, maybe even gossips about us with intent to undermine how others see us, we are free to try an experiment.

Before deciding what category, they belong in, we can ask ourselves, "What story might this person be carrying that I cannot see?" This question does not let a person off the hook for their behavior. This question opens doors for honest communication when both parties are willing to listen, to own, to understand, and to forgive. This question has saved friendships. It has healed families. It has transformed congregations, workspaces, and all kinds of relationships. And this question just might transform us. Because the moment we stop seeing enemies and begin seeing neighbors, we take one more step away from hate and one more step toward the kin-dom of LOVE. And I cannot imagine any human being in history or alive today who would not want to live there. May we refuse to forget that for now, we see through a glass dimly. May it be so, amen.